Donating umbilical cord blood to a public bank or storing it in a private bank: knowledge and preference of blood donors and of pregnant women.

Background: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a source of stem cells for allogeneic haematopoietic transplantation in paediatric and adult patients with haematological malignancies and other indications. Voluntary donation is the basis for the success of unrelated UCB transplantation programmes. In the last few years a growing number of private banks offer their services to expectant parents, to store UCB for future use.