CHLA Placenta BioBank
The Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Placenta BioBank was created to help scientists make critical discoveries to improve the health of mothers and babies. This specialized biorepository research study stores placental tissue, umbilical cord tissue and cord blood from mothers who donate it after their babies are born.
This tissue is often discarded after you deliver your baby. But when you participate in the CHLA Placenta BioBank, your samples are used to help researchers better understand certain medical conditions—so that future mothers can have healthier pregnancies.
Why donate your samples?
The placenta is a large, complex and powerful organ that connects mother and baby during pregnancy. It provides oxygen, nutrients, hormones and even brain neurotransmitters during baby’s development. It is essential for new life, and yet, it is the most understudied human organ.
One challenge is that most placentas are discarded after birth, which greatly limits opportunities for research. By donating your placenta to the CHLA Placenta BioBank, you and your child can help scientists learn more about this organ. Why do some placentas not function normally? How can we improve placental function during pregnancy so that babies can grow to their fullest potential? These are some of the questions researchers are asking by studying placental tissues.
Very few therapies are available today to prevent and treat placental dysfunction. If the placenta is not working well, often the only option is early delivery. This exposes newborns to the many risks of being born premature. New studies also show that how the placenta functions can impact a child’s health into adulthood.
When you donate to the BioBank, you and your child are supporting research that has the potential to improve health not only during pregnancy, but across the lifespan.
Dedicated to research
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is a world-class pediatric research institution and a trusted national leader in pediatric care. All studies that utilize the CHLA Placenta BioBank are first subjected to a rigorous review and approval process, and must be approved by an Institutional Review Board.
The BioBank supports research investigating a variety of conditions, but we are particularly focused on:
- Pre-eclampsia
- Gestational diabetes
- Placental anomalies
- Preterm labor
- Neonatal cardiac, brain/spine, gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions
The sole mission of the BioBank is to support placental research. Samples, including cord blood, are not able to be returned to participants once they have banked. Instead, your donation is a gift to help improve the health of future moms and their babies.
Eligibility
You may be eligible to participate if:
- You are a patient of the Fetal-Maternal Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and are expecting to deliver a baby.
Or:
- Your baby was born at an outside hospital but transferred to CHLA after delivery.
Participation in the CHLA Placenta BioBank is completely voluntary. Even after you participate, you are free to withdraw your participation at any time. If you choose to participate in this research, you and your children's samples and data will be collected and stored in a biobank for future research use.
Privacy
We maintain the highest standards of confidentiality and have rigorous procedures in place to protect the privacy of you and your child.
Information will also be recorded from the medical record, and this information will be stored in the BioBank along with the samples. The data and samples collected in this study will be "coded", which means they are labeled with a unique code or Study ID and are not labeled with your name or any other identifying information about you.
How to participate
Participating in the CHLA Placenta BioBank is easy. If you choose to participate, our staff will coordinate with your doctor/delivery hospital to easily collect these tissues after your baby is born.
Thank you for helping to build healthier futures for tomorrow’s mothers, babies and families.
