Is It Worth Storing Cord Blood?

Cord blood banking is a process of collecting potentially life-saving stem cells from the umbilical cord and placenta and storing them for future use. Stem cells are immature cells that can assume the form of other cells. There are so many things to think about when you have a child. One of them is the blood from your baby’s umbilical cord (which connects the baby to the mother while in the womb). It used to be thrown away at birth, but now, many parents store the blood for the future health of their child. The umbilical cord fluid is loaded with stem cells. They can treat cancer, blood diseases like anemia, and some immune system disorders, which disrupt your body's ability to defend itself.

The fluid is easy to collect and has 10 times more stem cells than those collected from bone marrow.

If you want Cord Blood Storage after the birth, the doctor clamps the umbilical cord in two places, about 10 inches apart, and cuts the cord, separating mother from baby. Then they insert a needle and collect at least 40 milliliters of blood from the cord. The blood is sealed in a bag and sent to a lab or cord blood bank for testing and storage. The process only takes a few minutes and is painless for mother and baby.

The cord blood bank may also send tubes so that the mother’s blood can be taken, too. If so, the banking kit will have instructions along with blood collection tubes.

Public cord banks don't charge anything for storage. Any donation made is available for anyone who needs it. The bank may also use the donated cord blood for research. Private (commercial) cord banks will store the donated blood for use by the donor and family members only. They can be expensive. These banks charge a fee for processing and an annual fee for storage.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) neither recommends nor advises against cord blood banking. But along with the AAP and AMA, it cautions parents about private cord blood banking. The reasons are collection and Cord Blood Storage costs at private cord blood banks are high. Other effective treatments may be available that are less expensive. The chance of privately banked cord blood being used by your child is extremely low. Other diseases that can be treated with a stem cell transplant, such as leukemia, may also already be present in a baby’s cord blood.

Because of these limits and the uncommon occurrence of the diseases that can be treated with a stem cell transplant, there have been just more than 400 autologous cord blood transplants in the United States in the last 2 decades. In contrast, more than 60,000 unrelated donor cord blood transplants have been performed worldwide. Direct-donation banks are a combination of public and private banks. They store cord blood for public use. But they also accept donations reserved for families. No fee is charged.

HealthBanks provides stem and immune cells banking, cord blood banking (healthbanks.us/Cord-Blood-Storage), and umbilical cord tissue banking services. These cells can be used to treat many diseases including metabolic disorders, blood related issues, and used in immunotherapies to treat cancer. To know more, visit https://healthbanks.us/company/.

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