Invited Commentary on Williams, et al: Storage of Placental Blood – A Feasibility Study for Development of a Fetal Blood Bank

Although the use of cord blood for hematologic disorders is well established, the idea of utilizing such samples for allogenic blood transfusions in neonates is relatively new. Transfusion practices in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) rely on adult blood donation despite underlying biochemical differences in adult hemoglobin (HbA) and fetal hemoglobin (HbF). With oxygen more readily released by HbA, adult transfusions in neonates carry a theoretical risk of oxidative stress. This risk potentially leads to complications such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), necrotizing enterocolitis, and retinopathy of prematurity [1-4].