The Placental Tissue Donation Program is run in Sydney, NSW and is a part of Australian Tissue Donation Network’s Living Donor Program. It gives patients, in Sydney, who are having an elective caesarean surgery, the opportunity to donate their placental tissue, which would otherwise have been discarded.
This program in turn provides tissue for medical products that improve the outcomes of many types of surgery, as well as the treatment of various types of wounds.
Placental tissue, more specifically Amnion, has the potential to be used in a variety of ways and has been cited in scientific papers (available on request) to be very beneficial to those who receive it.
Amnion has been used to treat wounds and burns in many countries, for over 20 years. Amnion in the inner most lining of the placenta where the foetus resides. It is used as a barrier to the outside environment and helps protect the baby.
Donating the placenta following a C-Section, enables us to separate the Amnion from the placenta and to process it so that it can be used in a variety of ways. Amnion enables us to use the barrier properties of the tissue to assist in many areas of wound care.
A staff member from Australian Tissue Donation Network will contact you and complete a full medical and social history questionnaire prior to the date booked for your caesarean procedure. On the day of surgery, a blood sample is taken at the beginning of your procedure and forwarded for routine screening and infectious disease testing. Tests performed are the same as they would be if you decided to be a blood donor.
The placental tissue is collected by trained staff and forwarded immediately to our processing partners, where it undergoes various procedures, designed to turn it into safe, efficient allograft material ready for use.
No, you cannot sell your placenta or any other human tissue in Australia. The Human Tissue Act prohibits the sale of human tissue for any reason, including placental tissue. Donation, however, is encouraged for medical and research purposes.