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Cord Blood and Banking
 More than 430,000 babies are born worldwide every day. With each new life comes the potential to save lives, through the blood that remains in the cut umbilical cord and placenta following birth.
Within this blood is a treasure trove of cells that can develop into a new, healthy blood system, with the curative power to banish disease and restore the immune system.
Each year approximately 10,000 patients are in need of stem cell therapy. A staggering 70% of these are unable to find a donor that matches their blood. This is why storing your child's Cord Blood is important. Freezing these cells provides a form of "Life Insurance" for your child and your extended family.
Your baby's Cord Blood may provide future benefits. Scientists are advancing stem cell therapies in the areas of arthritis, heart disease, nerve and tissue regeneration and other immune disorders. There is a tremendous amount of excitement within the medical and scientific community regarding the potential uses of stem cells. Saving your baby's stem cells may become an important component to successfully treating a host of ailments. If your child ever needs to use their Cord Blood as part of a life saving treatment, it will provide an exact match. Siblings have up to a 50% chance of becoming a match.
 If you have a family history of certain types of cancer or blood disorders, Cord Blood banking may be a prudent decision. If you choose to adopt a child or undergo fertility treatments, there may not be another opportunity to obtain a source of related, stem cells. So, banking your baby's Cord Blood may be even more crucial under these circumstances.
Stem cell research is a rapidly growing field of medical research in which new discoveries are constantly being made. Here is a list of diseases for which stem cell treatment has been used:
- Acute Leukemias
- Chronic Leukemias
- Myelodysplastic Syndromes
- Stem Cell Disorders
- Aplastic Anemia
- Fanconi Anemia
- Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria
- Myeloproliferative Disorders
- Acute Myelofibrosis
- Polycythemia Vera
- Lymphoproliferative Disorders
- Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
- Hodgkin's Disease
- Chronic Granulomatous Disease
- Liposomal Storage Diseases
- Adrenoleukodystrophy
- Gaucher's Disease
- Niemann-Pick Disease
- Beta Thalassemia
- Sickle Cell Disease
- Ataxia-Telangiectasia
- Osteopetrosis
- Plasma Cell Disorders
- Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia
- Other Malignancies
- Breast Cancer
- Ewing Sarcoma
- Neuroblastoma
- Renal Cell Carcinoma
 How cord blood is collected and stored
Months before your due date, the cord blood bank sends you a collection kit that contains everything that is needed for the process. The bank also sends your OB or Midwife instructions to make sure he or she knows how to collect the blood. When baby is born, and the umbilical cord is cut, the OB or Midwife collects the blood from the remaining umbilical cord and placenta (not from baby) into a syringe or blood bag. The process only takes a few minutes, and the blood is then set aside until all the birth excitement dies down. It can even be collected during a C-section. A family member places the cord blood into the pre-addressed mailing package, and makes one phone call to a medical courier to pick up the kit. Within hours the cord blood is picked up and shipped overnight to the cord blood bank. Once there, it is processed. The stem cells are removed from the cord blood, and it is placed into deep freeze storage. Collecting cord blood is simple, completely safe and non-invasive, and takes very little time.
Deciding whether or not to bank your baby's cord blood is a personal decision and a financial commitment. But parents only have one chance with each child to take advantage of this technology. You can enroll anytime during your pregnancy, but the earlier you do so, the more time you and your labor attendant have to receive the collection kit. When choosing where to store your child's cord blood cells, it's important to ask questions and research your decision carefully. Make sure the choice you make is as serious about storing the cord blood cells as you are.
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