Cord Blood Banking
November 3, 2008
Get the facts about the benefits of Cord Blood Banking
What is a Cord Blood Bank?
A cord blood bank is a place where the umbilical cord blood is stored. There are public cord blood banks and private blood banks. It is recommended to use the public banks over the private in most cases. Private banks have been criticized for aggressive and misleading marketing campaigns to expectant parents.
Why Should You Preserve Your Baby’s Cord Blood?
During pregnancy the umbilical cord is the main source of nutrition for the baby and is what connects the newborn to the mother. After delivery the umbilical cord is discarded. The blood in the umbilical cord of a baby is extremely rich in stem cells. If discarded you lose the chance to preserve the cells that are an exact match for your child. If the cord blood is stored then the stem cells would be available to treat over 70 diseases that your baby or parent’s or your brother or sister could develop.
Cord Blood Banking is very beneficial because cord blood stem cells are currently used in the treatment of several life-threatening diseases.
In the past the most common way to transfer stem cells from one person to another was through bone marrow transplantation. Studies have shown that cord blood can have advantages over traditional bone marrow transplantation. Using cord blood eliminates many of the problems associated with bone marrow transplants.
How do they collect cord blood?
After the birth of the baby you have a 15 minute window to collect the blood from your babies umbilical cord and then the laboratory has 48 hours to process the blood. The doctor will use a syringe to draw the blood which is very simple with no risk. The the blood is sent to the facility that you have chosen to store your babies blood and will be there if every needed.
What are the risks?
There are no health risk to the baby at all or any risk to mom. No pain, no discomfort and no harm, completely safe.
There is only one chance to save your baby’s cord blood and that’s right after birth. This is the only chance that you have to to give you baby an advantage for a healthy future. It’s also an investment in your family’s health as well.
