Placenta Donation Process

1. Patient Engagement

OBGYN office

• When discussing scheduling a C-section, the provider or nurse introduces placenta donation to their patient.
• A second staff member (i.e., surgery scheduler, medical assistant, etc.) may follow up to determine interest.

2. Referral

• If the patient is interested in placenta donation, a staff member submits a referral to Lifeline of Ohio via secure email, phone call or through our online, HIPAA-compliant, Placenta Donation Program Interest Form found in the Placenta Donation Program Toolkit.
• This referral includes the patient’s name, contact information, scheduled C-section date and time, and delivery hospital.

3. Hospital Notified

• Lifeline of Ohio notifies the delivery hospital via their preferred notification method. (This notification is typically done via email.)
• The hospital documents the patient’s decision to donate.

4. Consent and Questionnaire

• A Lifeline of Ohio Donation Support Services Coordinator reaches out to the patient to confirm interest in the program and answer any questions. The Coordinator obtains informed consent on a recorded line. (This takes approximately 5 minutes.)
• Within 14 days of the scheduled C-section, a Coordinator contacts the patient to complete the medical-social questionnaire on a recorded line. (This takes approximately 25-30 minutes depending on the answers to the questions.)

5. Placenta Acquisition

• Hospital staff draw blood from the patient, with their admission labs, using blood tube kits provided by Lifeline of Ohio.
• After delivery, the placenta is kept sterile and placed in a sterile basin provide by Lifeline of Ohio. The sterile basin and blood tubes are placed in the designated refrigerator or on ice.
• A Lifeline of Ohio Placenta Acquisition Coordinator arrives at the hospital to package the placenta and blood tubes.
• The Coordinator touches base with the nurse to provide a copy of the consent and gather information for charting. A Celebration Bag is given to the patient, in gratitude for their gift of donation.

6. Analysis and Processing

• The processor analyzes the donation and processes the placenta into grafts.

Each placenta can create, on average, up to 25 life-enhancing grafts for patients with medical needs!