 CBPG preparation and quality control: CB units are routinely collected after mothers informed consent in plastic bags containing 21-29 mL of citrate-phosphate-dextrose CPD anticoagulant by trained midwives, before and after placenta delivery in natural deliveries and in cesarean sections respectively, according to locally validated standard operation procedures, in accredited public cord blood banks belonging to the Italian Cord Blood Network coordinated by the Centro Nazionale Sangue. After storage and transportation at monitored room temperature, the units will be processed for the preparation of CBPG within 48 hours of collection. Based on a previous standardization exercise, the participating banks will be allowed to use locally available bags of convenient size and nominal volume that they consider appropriate for this protocol. In the above standardization exercise, it was decided to define the main characteristics of the final CBPC as follows: target mean volume 10 ml, range 5-15; target mean platelet concentration 1 x 109L, range 0.8 - 1.2 x 109L. The latter concentration was selected in agreement with the platelet concentration defined by the Italian Society of Transfusion Medicine for platelet gel obtained from adult blood. CBPG will be prepared according to procedures defined during pilot studies at each bank, which included an initial centrifugation of CB at 200-210 g x 10-15 minutes, followed by the transfer of the platelet rich plasma PRP into a secondary bag, centrifugation of the PRP at 1800-2600 g x 15 minutes and removal of the supernatant platelet poor plasma PPP in excess of the final target volume of the CBPC. The latter was defined by an automated algorithm performed by an Excel spreadsheet used for data collection, which takes into account the platelet concentration in the PRP and the minimum 0.8 x 109L and maximum 1.2 x 109L values of the platelet concentration aimed at in the final CBPC. The platelet concentrations in the PRP divided by 0.8 and by 1.2 x 109L provide the upper and lower bounds of the CBPC volume respectively. The final volume was set by determining the net weight of the CBPC on an electronic scale. The CBPC units will be finally cryopreserved in a -80 C mechanical freezer in view of the clinical use of the CBPG, which will require thawing at 37 C in a waterbath and activation with Calcium gluconate. For the standard local medications, each clinical center will use their validated standard local medications. Details and specifications of the local standard medication procedures will be collected from each participating centre. 