Umbilical Cord Blood

Cord Blood Banking – a Gift of Healthy Life

Cord blood is a rich source of stem cells in the blood — the blood and immune system building blocks. Banking (storing) cord blood is a way to preserve life-saving cells that are usually thrown away after birth. Parents can either bank these cells privately for a fee (used for their own family usage) or donate cells free of charge to public banks (for benefit of the patients wanting transplantation).

However in India as there are no such public banks where we can donate the umbilical cord our baby, so instead of paying money to the public bank and losing the right to ownership of the stem cells. It will be a better option to pay and store the cord blood of our baby in a private bank and get the full right to own the stem cells of our baby.

The umbilical cord of a baby contains very special “standard” cells that can regenerate into any type of specialized cells of the body. These cells can be used to treat diseases where specialized cells need to be regenerated by your body. For example, for bone marrow transplantation, umbilical cord blood may be used. Nerve, liver, and other specific tissues can be regenerated by stem cells from umbilical cord tissue.

Scenario of the medical science has changed a lot in few years. Treatments that a couple of years ago sounded like science fiction become a reality. Currently, stem cells are used to treat cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injury. There are currently more than 200 clinical studies worldwide using stem cells to treat type I diabetes, autism, pediatric stroke, spinal cord injury, HIV, tendon / sports injury, Alzheimer’s and more. Japanese scientists use stem cells to grow tiny livers that they transplanted with liver failure into mice. They anticipate growing livers in the next 10 years for human transplantation.

Despite of the pros and cons stem cell banking promises to treat some devastating diseases is welcome news for many parents – to – be. But what is vital to keep in mind that in majority of families, the hatched samples stem cells needed for the treatment is very rare. For instance, if you have a family history of diseases that can be corrected with fetal cord blood banking, if you can afford it; it can be something to take seriously. However before storing their baby’s stem cells, parents must have a complete understanding about cord blood banking with their obstetrician or about the banks which store the baby’s stem cells.