Save, Store, Donate: Reasons Parents Should Consider Cord Blood Banking
When you go to the bank, you deposit money, right? Well, some “banks,” which are actually advanced scientific labs, will “bank” blood – umbilical cord blood. Women deposit their umbilical cord blood immediately after birth, and it’s available for use for any family member. Wow! Does that sound strange? To some, hiring a company to look over their stem cell-filled cord blood for the rest of their life is perfectly normal. More than that, it could be life-saving.
How It’s Done
When your baby is born, cord blood is collected from the umbilical cord. Only three to five ounces is collected from each cord. The amount is small enough to treat an ill child, but not enough to treat an adult. Still, multiple units of matched cord blood may be able to treat an adult.
Why It’s Done
Cord blood is collected so that, later on in life, blood diseases can be treated using the stem cells in the blood. Babies who need stem cell transplants can receive their own stem cells in a very usable format. For example, if a patient needs stem cells for cancer therapy or some other illness, rather than collecting it from bone marrow, the cord blood can be used.
The disadvantage with using bone marrow, or regular blood transfusions, is that it’s harder to find a match exactly when a patient needs it. On the other hand, having banked cord blood makes finding a donor easy – the cord blood is a perfect match and can be used on-demand.
Patients using cord blood also recover more quickly when they receive stem cell transplants. There are also some therapies on the horizon that use patient stem cells to help accelerate healing processes in a variety of conditions.
Planning Ahead
According to companies like StemCyte™, who do cord blood banking, you need to notify your bank of choice at least 4 to 6 weeks before your due date. This is so that preparations can be made for your cord blood. If you don’t notify them on time, you won’t be able to bank the blood.
You can choose to either bank the blood with a private company or a public one.
Private Vs Public Banks
Private companies charge a fee for their services, but they preserve the cord blood for you, specifically. If you, or anyone in your family, ever needs the stem cells, you are guaranteed them in the future.
Public companies do not guarantee your blood. It may be used for you, other people, or for research. This is an options you may or may not want to choose, depending on what you think you will need.
Public companies are free, which is why some people choose to donate to them. Of course, if you’re going through the trouble of donating, you might well want to pay for the benefit of having access to the blood.
You Can’t Cure Any Disease
While stem cells are capable of becoming any cell in the body, and therefore are instrumental in the treatment of a variety of diseases, they cannot cure everything, and there are therapies that are not yet approved by the FDA.
For example, you can use the cord blood if you have a family history of disease that harms the blood and immune system later on in life. For example, families with a strong history of leukemia and some cancers like sickle-cell anemia, use banked blood as a treatment.
But, not all moms can donate their cord blood. So, if you are younger than 18, have already been treated for cancer, of have received chemotherapy, you’ve had malaria in the last three years, or have been treated for a blood disease like hepatitis or HIV/AIDS, then you cannot use your blood cord. Finally, if you’re delivering the baby prematurely, you cannot collect the cord blood and donate it – you can collect it for private use, however.
Where To Bank Your Cord Blood
There are many places all over the world that will do this for you. Here is a list by country. There are also places where you can donate your cord blood to others for use, and where there is no guarantee that it will be available to you for future use.
To donate the cord blood, you must sign up between the 28th and 34th week of pregnancy. This is essential, and if you do not do it during this time, you can be turned down. If you are donating to a private bank, you will talk with your doctor as soon as you can about the procedure, and the blood is collected when you give birth.
Dr. Wise Young is one of the world’s most outstanding neuroscientists and a foremost leader in spinal cord injury research. He enjoys sharing his research and ideas online through blogging.
When you go to the bank, you deposit money, right? Well, some “banks,” which are actually advanced scientific labs, will “bank” blood – umbilical cord blood. Women deposit their umbilical cord blood immediately after birth, and it’s available for use for any family member. Wow! Does that sound strange? To some, hiring a company to look over their stem cell-filled cord blood for the rest of their life is perfectly normal. More than that, it could be life-saving.
How It’s Done
When your baby is born, cord blood is collected from the umbilical cord. Only three to five ounces is collected from each cord. The amount is small enough to treat an ill child, but not enough to treat an adult. Still, multiple units of matched cord blood may be able to treat an adult.
Why It’s Done
Cord blood is collected so that, later on in life, blood diseases can be treated using the stem cells in the blood. Babies who need stem cell transplants can receive their own stem cells in a very usable format. For example, if a patient needs stem cells for cancer therapy or some other illness, rather than collecting it from bone marrow, the cord blood can be used.
The disadvantage with using bone marrow, or regular blood transfusions, is that it’s harder to find a match exactly when a patient needs it. On the other hand, having banked cord blood makes finding a donor easy – the cord blood is a perfect match and can be used on-demand.
Patients using cord blood also recover more quickly when they receive stem cell transplants. There are also some therapies on the horizon that use patient stem cells to help accelerate healing processes in a variety of conditions.
Planning Ahead
According to companies like StemCyte™, who do cord blood banking, you need to notify your bank of choice at least 4 to 6 weeks before your due date. This is so that preparations can be made for your cord blood. If you don’t notify them on time, you won’t be able to bank the blood.
You can choose to either bank the blood with a private company or a public one.
Private Vs Public Banks
Private companies charge a fee for their services, but they preserve the cord blood for you, specifically. If you, or anyone in your family, ever needs the stem cells, you are guaranteed them in the future.
Public companies do not guarantee your blood. It may be used for you, other people, or for research. This is an options you may or may not want to choose, depending on what you think you will need.
Public companies are free, which is why some people choose to donate to them. Of course, if you’re going through the trouble of donating, you might well want to pay for the benefit of having access to the blood.
You Can’t Cure Any Disease
While stem cells are capable of becoming any cell in the body, and therefore are instrumental in the treatment of a variety of diseases, they cannot cure everything, and there are therapies that are not yet approved by the FDA.
For example, you can use the cord blood if you have a family history of disease that harms the blood and immune system later on in life. For example, families with a strong history of leukemia and some cancers like sickle-cell anemia, use banked blood as a treatment.
But, not all moms can donate their cord blood. So, if you are younger than 18, have already been treated for cancer, of have received chemotherapy, you’ve had malaria in the last three years, or have been treated for a blood disease like hepatitis or HIV/AIDS, then you cannot use your blood cord. Finally, if you’re delivering the baby prematurely, you cannot collect the cord blood and donate it – you can collect it for private use, however.
Where To Bank Your Cord Blood
There are many places all over the world that will do this for you. Here is a list by country. There are also places where you can donate your cord blood to others for use, and where there is no guarantee that it will be available to you for future use.
To donate the cord blood, you must sign up between the 28th and 34th week of pregnancy. This is essential, and if you do not do it during this time, you can be turned down. If you are donating to a private bank, you will talk with your doctor as soon as you can about the procedure, and the blood is collected when you give birth.
Dr. Wise Young is one of the world’s most outstanding neuroscientists and a foremost leader in spinal cord injury research. He enjoys sharing his research and ideas online through blogging.
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