Maimonides Health established New York City’s first hospital-based placenta donation program on Wednesday, offering patients at the Stella and Joseph Payson Birthing Center the option to donate their placenta to be used in medical therapies.
Placenta donation is a form of organ donation with a range of innovative medical applications. Most commonly, placenta tissue, specifically the amniotic membrane, is used for skin grafts to treat chronic wounds and serious burns. It can also be used in sight-saving ophthalmologic therapies, orthopedic procedures like nerve wrap and ligament repair,reconstructive surgeries like breast reconstruction and hernia repairs, or in gum grafts during dental operations.
Donation carries no risk to the patient or newborn, does not impact the delivery process, is completely free, and saves the placenta from being discarded as medical waste, the hospital said. Medical records and information related to the donation are confidential and the donation is completely optional, and only occurs with the direct consent of each patient, according to the hospital.
“This gives all patients who give birth at Maimonides the opportunity to make the delivery process all the more special by contributing to lifesaving medical applications, and helping others overcome serious illnesses, pain, and loss of function of essential body parts like the limbs and eyes,” said Kavitha Ram, MD, associate chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Maimonides. “We are proud to ensure that families have simplified access to reputable birth tissue donation avenues, to make their generous donations as easy, safe, and secure as possible.”
Maimonides is the first hospital in New York City to establish a hospital-based placental donation program. Approximately 5,500 babies are delivered at Maimonides annually, making it one of the busiest labor and delivery programs in the state.
“We are thrilled to be the first hospital in the five boroughs to be offer patients the opportunity for hospital-based placenta donation,” said Scott Chudnoff, MD, chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Maimonides Health.
