Mothers Healing Others
Mothers Healing Others — Sinai Health’s Placenta Donation Program — offers you the opportunity to donate your birth tissue to create dressings for patients with chronic and surgical wounds.
What is placenta donation?
During pregnancy, your body creates a placenta and other birth tissue to nourish and protect your baby. Often discarded after birth, placental tissue has been scientifically proven to have therapeutic properties. The placenta contains natural healing properties, including growth factors and proteins. By donating your placenta, you can help patients who have serious wounds that will not heal on their own.
How placental tissue helps patients
Placental tissue has been used for more than 100 years to treat hard-to-heal wounds. Products made from placental tissue help protect wounds from infection, reduce inflammation around the wound and diminish scar tissue.
After donation, placental tissue is carefully processed into medical dressings that physicians use to treat patients with burns, diabetic ulcers, surgical wounds and other complex injuries. One placenta donation can create multiple grafts, potentially helping many patients on their path to healing and recovery.
Who can donate
You may be eligible to donate if you have:
- A planned Caesarean birth
- No disqualifying medical conditions
Participation in the Placenta Donation Program is voluntary. Your medical care will not be affected whether or not you decide to donate. Donating your placenta does not cause side effects or risks to you or your baby.
How to donate
If you would like to donate, speak with your health-care provider
during your next visit, or contact our donation coordinator by email at [email protected] or by phone 416-586-4800 ext. 7814.
Next steps
- A member of the Sinai Health team will ask you to provide written consent to donate your placenta and related birth tissue, and permission for your medical chart to be reviewed
- You will be asked to complete a brief medical questionnaire
- A member of the Sinai Health team will do a physical examination and take a blood sample
- On the day of your Caesarean birth, a member of the Sinai Health team will collect your placenta and related birth tissue
- The collection process will not change your delivery
Frequently asked questions
Mothers Healing Others is a program developed by Mount Sinai Allograft Technologies (MSAT). MSAT has been a leader in advanced tissue innovations since 1972 and holds various accreditations, including registrations with Health Canada and the American Association of Tissue Banks. It follows the guidelines of these organizations to ensure that all donations are carried out with care and respect. Proceeds from the donation program are used to help fund patient care and research at Sinai Health.
Yes. The placenta, which would typically be discarded, is collected after you give birth. The only risk is the blood sample required for testing.
Currently, we plan to distribute only to health-care organizations in Canada. If the program expands in the future, processed tissue may also be distributed elsewhere.
Yes. The cord is separate from the placenta, and both can be collected at the same time. Your donation will not affect your ability to bank your cord blood and cord tissue.
As long as you have not delivered your baby, you can donate your placenta. We will collect your medical information and the placenta on the day of delivery.
Yes. If something in your blood requires medical attention, that information will be shared with your health-care provider according to Health Canada guidelines.
The placenta and related birth tissue are typically discarded as medical waste.
Yes. If you meet the eligibility criteria during your next pregnancy, you can donate your placenta again.
No. Once the Sinai Health team confirms your eligibility to donate, you will be provided with all the information you need.
You must give written consent to donate your placenta and related birth tissue and provide permission for your medical chart to be reviewed. If you are eligible to donate, you must complete a brief medical questionnaire within two weeks before your delivery. You must also have a physical examination and provide a blood sample within one week before delivery.
No. Your donation is voluntary. Canadian law prohibits the buying and selling of human organs. In Ontario, the Trillium Gift of Life Network Act prohibits the sale of tissue.
The Trillium Gift of Life Network Act prohibits the sale of organs and tissues. Mount Sinai Allograft Technologies (MSAT) processes birth tissue into a finished healing product for clinical use. Sinai Health may receive compensation to cover the costs of collection, processing and distribution to make the tissue suitable for use on wounds and in surgical care.
You can opt out of the Placenta Donation Program until your placenta and related birth tissue have been processed.
No. Your information will be collected by the MSAT team for the Mothers Healing Others program only. You will not hear from us after your donation.
Only the Sinai Health team will have access to your identity and personal health information. Once processed, the final product will not contain any personal information.
No. Once processed, your placenta and related birth tissue will not contain any personal health information.
Sinai Health follows guidelines required by the Ontario government to protect the privacy of personal health information.