Cord Blood Banking

Cord Blood Storage

We thought we'd deviate a little from genetic testing and include some information on cord blood storage for those of you having a baby and wishing information on this exciting advance in science and healthcare.

What Is Cord Blood Banking?

Those who are having a baby are likely to be contacted about cord blood storage. Although this is a personal decision that can only be made by the mother and father, it is one that is worth taking into consideration. When cord blood is banked, it is stored so that at a later time, if needed, it can be used. There are several key reasons why anyone would want to do this. The main reasoning is quite simple. Cord blood contains very important cells that can help to grow a healthy immune system for someone that may have become ill. Not only can this cord blood be used for the baby, but for others that have the same type of blood and tissue. Therefore it is very valuable.

There are several types of cord blood banking process that can take place. You can store your baby’s blood in a public bank. When you choose to go this route, the baby’s blood is taken from the umbilical cord, stored cryogenically and can be used by anyone who is in need of it. You can also store your baby's blood in a private bank. When you do this, only your child or other family members can use it when you deem it to be necessary.

Cord blood is a powerful weapon. When it is stored and then used, it will be transplanted into the ill person. It can then help to literally repair many illnesses, even some cancers that may be in the body. The fact is that no one is hurt in this process either. Unlike stem cell collection, the baby as well as the mother is completely fine if cord blood is collected and then later used as needed.

If you decide to bank your cord blood, you will want to talk to your doctor about doing this by your 34th week of pregnancy. Although it can be done after this point, making arrangements for the process to happen should be done as soon as possible just to allow for time for processing. You can also contact the local blood bank for additional help in making these arrangements.

There is a real need for all types of women, of all ages and ethnic backgrounds to bank blood publicly. Since each ethnicity has their own specific needs, it is more likely that someone that is in need of cord blood donations to find them if someone of their own heritage has donated. This includes people of all backgrounds including American Indian, Alaska Native, Black and African American, Latino, Pacific Islander and Asian.

The decision to donate cord blood is one that only you can make. No matter if you decide to donate to a private or a public bank, you will want to weigh your choice wisely. Even if you can not use or do not use the blood from your child yourself, you will likely be able to help someone else with a life threatening condition to benefit from it.

Because of the high costs of private blood banking, It may helps to take a look at some of the advantages and the disadvantages of using cord banking for your child. This may aid in your decision making.

Advantages

1. Cord blood transplants do not require as much of a perfect match between the donor of the blood and the recipient. This is because the stem cells that are located here are more primitive than those that will come from bone marrow or from peripheral blood.

2. There is no pain, discomfort or risk involved in harvesting the cord blood from the donor as it is done after the birth of the child. On the other side, bone marrow donations are done under pain, anesthesia as well as risk infection of the donor.

3. Cord blood is ready whenever you need it, instantly. If you do not have this blood stored, you will need to go through donors on registries, testing them to insure that they are the right match. This can take much longer.

The Disadvantages

1. Right now, it is only possible for a child or a small sized adult to use cord blood transplants because there is not enough stem cells in cord banking for the larger sized adult.

2. The cost. It can be expensive to use a private bank to have particular cord blood stored for your child and your family’s well being. Perhaps you may never have need of the blood. As a matter of fact, the Journal of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology determined that the odds that your child will need those stem cells are one and 2700. Your family’s odds are one in 1400 that you will need to use the blood.

3. The blood may be virtually worthless when it comes to helping a child or a person who has an immunological disorder. These are often genetic and therefore your stem cells would also carry the disorder.

Determining if the banking of cord blood is for you is not easy. In many cases, it can be quite a hard decision. After all, the “What ifs” really can make you take into consideration where you stand. Yet, the process is growing into popularity as more and more people are finding success in the process of using these stem cells. You should base your decision on your own specific needs and desires.

What Diseases Can Cord Blood Help?

One question that you may have about cord blood banking is just what is it that cord blood can fix in your child? First off, it is important to realize that you will not be calling on cord blood anytime your child gets sick. In fact, it may be very rare for your child to even have to use this blood for their protection. Yet, if the time comes you will undoubtedly be quite grateful that you did.

Some of the most commonly used stem cell needs include these diseases and conditions:

• Leukemia

• Chronic Leukemia

• Myelodysplasia Syndromes

• Anemias

• Sickle Cell Disease

• Inherited Red Cell Abnormalities

• Lymphomas

• Plasma Cell Disorders

• Neuroblastoma

• Myeloma

There are also many, many trials and therapies being done now for new treatments using stem cells. These include things like breast cancer, sarcoma, caricinoma, Tay-Sachs disease, osteoporosis, and Multiple Sclerosis. Some other experimental trials happening right now include Arthritis, in both adults and children, Evan Syndrome, Diabetes, Crohn’s Disease, Scleroderma, Lupus, Fanconi’s Anemia, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, stroke recovery, spinal cord injuries, liver repair, kidney repair, and so much more.

One thing to keep in mind when it comes to deciding about cord blood banking is your child’s likelihood of getting these types of conditions. You may be in an increased risk for them if your family members have had them. In addition, you may be in need of these treatments through stem cells if you are of mixed race as it is nearly impossible to find a match for stem cells besides with the help of cord blood.

Synonyms: cord blood storage is a synonym of cord blood banking. Cored, chord, corred, cold, corde, codr, crod, ocrd, ccord, coord, corrd, cordd, and core are common typos for cord. Blud, bloud, broud, brood, blod, blodo, bolod, lbood, bblood, bllood, bloood, and bloodd are all typos for blood. Bnking, baking, bankng, bankig, bankin, bbanking, baanking, baanking, bannking, bankking, bankiing, bankinng, bankingg, bamking, bankimg, bankign, banknig, banikng, bakning, bnaking, abnking, gnaking, ganking and anking are all typos for banking. Sorage, strage, stoage, storge, storae, sterage, stolage, sterag, storag, stolag, storgae, stoarge, stroage, sotrage, tsorage, torge, sstorage,sttorage, stoorage, storrage, storaage, storagge, and storagee are all typos for storage.