Are there risks donating umbilical cord blood

No, there are no risks involved in donating umbilical cord blood!

When you choose to donate umbilical cord blood for stem cell research this will have no affect whatsoever on the health or safety of yourself or your new baby. This is because stem cells removed from an umbilical cord blood are only removed after the baby is born and the placenta has been delivered. In a normal situation, if you were to choose not to donate the umbilical blood for stem cell research, you would just through the placenta away after birth. Now, you can use this to help advance medical technologies and improve the lives of many people in the future.