You've spent hours planning everything from your hospital bag to the nursery color scheme in your preparations for your baby's birth. You're all set to go! Then your best friend asks, "Have you considered cord blood banking?"
What is cord blood?
The procedure of extracting life-saving stem cells from the umbilical cord and placenta and preserving them for future use is known as umbilical cord blood. Stem cells are immature cells that can take the form of other cells.
In response to the prospect of cord blood in the healing of blood and immune system illnesses, private and public cord blood banks have emerged. Umbilical cord blood banks accept donations for the benefit of anyone in need and, as such, function similarly to public blood banks.
Cord blood banks are classified into several types.
- Public cord blood banks
Cord blood units with enough stem cells to be medically useful are tested and given anonymously to individuals who are a genetic match in a public cord bank.
Cord blood that has been donated to a public cord blood bank but does not contain enough stem cells to be used for medical treatments may be used for research.
If you want to donate your baby's cord blood, check with your birthing hospital to see if you can contribute to a public cord bank.
- Private cord blood banks
A private cord bank allows users to store the cord blood in situation your child or another member of your family (who is a genetic match) becomes ill in the future.
However, be aware that some companies may make unsubstantiated claims about cord blood's ability to "cure" certain conditions.
Private cord banks provide you ultimate control over what happens to your cord blood, but that autonomy comes at a premium price.
When and how it is collected card blood
The first step in collecting cord blood is to conduct research to determine where the blood will be stored. If you intend to use a private cord blood bank, this may entail researching the practices of various banks and requesting quotes.
The next step is to prepare for the blood collection. This entails speaking with your medical providers. It's critical to include this desire in your birth plan and notify your doctor before giving birth.
If you want to store cord blood, you should discuss your plans with your doctor between 28 and 34 weeks of pregnancy.
Depending on where you intend to bank the cord blood, your doctor and you may be required to complete paperwork.
Recommendations and thoughts
Many organizations, notably the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), have released comments urging people to donate to public cord blood banks rather than private cord blood banks:
- many of the disorders currently curable with cord blood are uncommon.
- Second, for many of these conditions, the unwell child's cord blood could not be used in treatment since the stem cells would have the same genetic abnormalities as the ill child.
- While it is feasible to use a family member's cord blood to help treat another family member who is ill, the genetic markers must match. This match is most likely to be won by siblings.
- As a result, both the AAP and the National College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists don't support private cord blood banking unless such a family already has a kid who could benefit from a stem cell transplant.
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