How Cord Blood Banking Can Offer Families Greater Peace of Mind
Cord blood banking is a procedure of harvesting, freezing, and saving cord blood for future use. Cord blood, conjointly termed umbilical cord blood, remains in the umbilical duct and placenta after the birth of a baby. Apart from containing all additives of ordinary blood like red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma, it consists of hematopoietic stem cells. These cells can save many lives. This blood is not required for the baby just after birth but can be beneficial in the future. So if your delivery is soon, consider donating your cord blood to the best cord blood banks near you.
How does cord blood banking give greater peace of mind to families?
Earlier, the placenta and umbilical duct were considered waste. But as the phenomenal benefits of cord blood get discovered, its banking is being promoted. We have discussed some pros that show how cord blood banking can offer you complete peace of mind.
Life Saver
Cord blood banking provides a remedy for illnesses such as anemia, leukemia, immunity disorders, and certain cancers. This process stores the stem cells believed to morph into all kinds of blood cells. There are fewer chances anyone related to the family of the baby will reject cord blood. The most beneficial aspect of cord blood banking is that since doctors collect this blood from a newborn, it is free from any infection.
• Readily Available
Cord blood is a more primitive source of hematopoietic stem cells, compared to bone marrow and peripheral blood. Doctors believe that once collected parents can store it indefinitely in a reputed cord blood bank. According to statistics, 1 in every 217 people may need stem cells once in their lifetime due to treatment. You can use the somatic cells of your baby anytime if your baby, his/her sibling, or the parents fall ill suddenly.
• Simple procedure
The process of banking cord blood is pain-free for both the baby and the mother. Whether your baby is born naturally or via C-section, you can save the cord blood in both cases. First of all, the epithelial duct blood samples will get checked for any infection. Blood is collected immediately when the cord gets detached from the mother and the baby. There is no necessity to do any additional surgery for this. Then, the banked blood is processed using various processing agents. Lastly, it is slowly lowered to a precise temperature and preserved.
• More research on cord blood
Scientists believe that there are still many undiscovered benefits of cord blood and require studies for the same. Research for pairing the stem cell storage services with genetic and genomic testing services is underway. Cord blood banks are becoming centers of stem cell storage. Clinical trials to use cord blood for treating heart diseases and diabetes are also underway.
• Benefits to your family
If you donate your baby’s cord blood to a public bank, it will be accessible to anyone in need. But, if you choose a private bank for banking, they will reserve this blood only for your family. Your baby or someone from your family might need a somatic cell transplant in the future. Finding a stem cell match from the public database is tough. In most cases, our bodies reject the stem cells of somebody not in our blood relation. Genetically related stem cells are an ideal match in such situations. Your baby’s stem cells can be a 75% perfect match for transplant to siblings and a 100% match for the parents.
A massive complication after a somatic cell transplant is GVHD. GVHD stands for graft-versus-host-disease, and it attacks the body after transplant. A patient will suffer from GVHD or not depends on the relationship that the donor and receiver share. According to the National Institute of Health, there are 65% to 55% fewer chances of getting GVHD if the donor is in blood relation to the receiver.