Forrest General Labor and Delivery Celebrates Birth-Tissue Donations

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – (October 25, 2023) Forrest General Hospital recently celebrated more than 1,700 telaGen birth-tissue donations since it joined the program in 2019.

Forrest General Hospital’s Labor and Delivery Department partners with telaGen and gives expectant C-section mothers the opportunity to donate their birth tissue. While the birth tissues serve to create and protect your new baby, the power of those tissues doesn’t end after a mother delivers. They can be used to help patients who suffer from ailments such as corneal disease, diabetic foot ulcers, severe burns, non-healing wounds, and many others where tissue grafts are useful or necessary.

Fluid from the tissue can also be used to help orthopedic patients with degenerative bone disease. One donation of birth tissue can be used to help between 50 to 80 patients. If not donated, the birth tissue is typically disposed of as medical waste and provides no further benefit.

For each birth tissue donation supported, a charitable donation is made on behalf of telaGen to the Forrest General Healthcare Foundation. This is done to mirror the grace of a birth mother’s donation by showing support for her community. To date, more than $96,000 in donations have been made. The Foundation allocates these funds to help purchase items needed to help patients in their medical journey.

“We are excited to partner with telaGen to give the gift of healing to those patients in need of tissue to aid in their healing journey,” said Tangela Jackson , director for Women and Children’s Services at Forrest General.

telaGen has more than 40 programs throughout the Southeast United States and is one of the largest suppliers of birth tissue allografts in the nation. It is the primary source of raw material used in the production of these life-saving products that help more than 8 million burn and wound care patients. Carter said Forrest General is one of the three largest donation hospitals in the state participating in the program.

For more information about Forrest General Hospital’s Women and Children’s Services, visit www.forrestgeneral.org.