Cord Blood 101
So let’s answer some of your pressing questions regarding cord blood and what it is. After your baby is born, the umbilical cord and placenta no longer have a use but they contain valuable stem cells that can be harvested for future medical use. Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta after childbirth. It is a rich source of stem cells and blood-forming cells, which are used to treat a range of diseases including leukemia, lymphoma, anemia, and severe combined immunodeficiency. When it comes to saving cord blood, one of the top questions from new parents revolves around the collection process and whether or not it is painless. After all, parents do not want to subject their new baby to trauma or pain within the first moments of their life. However, parents should rest assured that the collection of cord blood is simple and painless for both the new mom and the newborn baby. The process itself takes place after birth and the umbilical cord is clamped and cut. After that, the doctor or midwife then extracts the blood from the umbilical cord with a syringe and stores it in a special FDA-approved blood bag.Why Parents Are Choosing Private Banks
In the past, we have discussed the differences between public donation banks and private banks for cord blood storage (there are pros and cons to both and it is a decision that a family must make based on what works for them). Public cord blood banks store cord blood for anyone who needs it, while private cord blood banks store it exclusively for the family that donated it. However, parents are starting to choose private cord blood banks over public banks for a number of reasons. The first is that public banks have a limited amount of space and they can't accept all of the donations they receive. This means that if you donate to a public bank, there's no guarantee that your baby's cord blood will be available when needed. Here are some other reasons why parents are saving cord blood with private stem cell banks instead of donating it to public banks:- To preserve the genetic material for their family if they have a child with a genetic disorder that requires treatment with donated cord blood, such as sickle cell anemia or Tay-Sachs disease
- To ensure that their child has access to his or her own umbilical cord blood in case they need it in the future
- To protect their child from having to hope that someone else's cord blood will match theirs when they need it
- To preserve the option of banking cord blood for themselves or other family members later in life (for example, siblings who may need treatment)
