Throughout the pregnancy, the umbilical cord serves as the baby’s lifeline. It connects them to the placenta, serving as a source of oxygen and nutrition. Earlier, doctors used to discard the tissue after delivery. However, with medical advancements, there have been specific changes. Today, more parents look forwards to storing or “banking” their children’s cord blood for potential future use.

Cord Blood Banking

Cord blood storage or banking is an excellent option for parents who want to preserve the umbilical cord blood and placenta. They save these tissues of the babies as “insurance” to help their babies with possible future medical requirements. You can also use the cord blood cells for other biologically matched children.

Cord Blood: What is it?

Cord blood found in the placenta and umbilical cord is rich in stem cells. These cells have amazing potential to grow in different types of cells. Researchers and medical professionals believe that these cells play a vital role in healing various diseases, including cancer. However, the best time to store these cells is right after birth. Your blood and bone marrow also contains stem cells; however, they are challenging to collect.

How to Collect Cord Blood?

If you want to store the cord blood, you need to speak with your doctor during the early pregnancy. After the birth, the doctor clamps the umbilical cord in two places. The doctor places the clamps at a distance of about 10 inches and cuts the cord. After separating the mother and the baby, the doctors insert a needle and collect at least 40 milliliters of blood.

They then seal the collected blood in a bag and send it to a laboratory or cord bank for testing and storage. The process takes a few minutes and is painless for both the mother and the infant.

However, it is impossible for cord blood storage in cases of premature twins or when they share a placenta. Certain infections also hinder the collection of cord blood. You might require playing a collection fee depending on the hospital’s policies. It is better to check these factors in advance.

How to Store Cord Blood?

After collection, the laboratory must store the cord blood carefully to preserve the quality. Each facility has its specific protocols and procedures. The cord blood undergoes processing and is stored frozen. No one can guarantee the longevity of cord blood. You can store cord blood after delivery to affordable cord blood banks at $19.99 per month.

You can store the cord blood in public or private storage, referred to as banks. The facility makes your stored cord blood available to other children with biological matches. If you store the cord blood in a private bank, the cord blood will be available only to the family. The type of storage requires both initial and annual fees.

Benefits of Cord Blood Banking

Today most parents opt for cord blood banking. Cord blood banking has proven advantages over options like public cord blood banking and bone marrow transplantation. There are several reasons for preserving cord blood. It includes the following:

• There is no pain or risk for the mother and baby in extracting the blood from the umbilical cord. The collection is easy and performed right after the baby’s delivery when cutting down the umbilical cord.

• For a successful transplant of the stem cells, they need to match with the receiver. You can find the matched stem cells in the databases. However, the chance of finding a match is low. Genetically related stem cells from a blood-related family member result in a successful transplant.

• More people can receive stem cells from cord blood than from bone marrow.

• Cord blood stem cells support the immune system during cancer treatments. People cannot use stem cells from bone marrow.

• Collecting cord blood becomes less complicated, painful, and risky for the donor.

• Since the cord blood bank freezes and stores cord blood, it is ready for use whenever required.

Cord blood banking can offer stem cells that help treat several conditions, especially in children and young adults. People need to decide about storing the cord blood during their pregnancy and need to meet specific criteria.