What Is Cord Blood Banking?

Though it’s been around for decades, the idea of storing the blood from the umbilical cord is still relatively unheard of among many people.

What is cord blood banking?

It’s retrieving the blood from the umbilical cord at the time of birth and saving it in a place that can safely keep it until it’s needed for your child.

Some people choose to donate their umbilical cord to blood banks that are not private ones. By doing this, they give the gift of life saving cells to someone else. When saving the blood, it’s done immediately after the birth and the procedure doesn’t hurt either the mother or the baby.

The reason that saving this blood is so vital is because, contained in the cord are stem cells. These cells can take the place of cells in the body that are no longer viable – they can fight back against disease.

Some doctors consider these cells like a master key to the human body in that they can take the place of cells that don’t work or cells that cancer has invaded. In the event a child develops leukemia, his or her chances of recovery are less with a bone marrow transplant than they are with family related cord blood.

What kind of facilities perform this valuable service?

There are two ways people can keep cord blood safe. One is through a bank that’s private. At birth, the blood is collected and given to the facility.

For processing and storing the blood, donors will have to pay a recurring fee and this is usually paid annually. This blood is not made available to the general public and only the family that donated the blood can use it for medical purposes.

If you decide that you don’t want to privately store your cord blood, then you might consider donating it to a public blood bank. In these cases, the donated cord blood goes into a registry and anyone who needs it (like someone needing a bone marrow transplant) would then be able to get a donation of that blood. The donated blood has gone to help thousands of children who needed the stem cells from it.

What are the odds you’ll need to use the banked blood?

Some doctors say that the chance the blood will be needed is 1 in 217 patients – and while that might not seem like bad odds, if you consider that your child or family member could be that one, then the odds are more threatening – and when life turns upside down, you want to be prepared to do all that you can to turn it right side up again.

Human life is one of the most mysterious processes in the universe. From the beginning of written history, mankind has made many efforts to prolong life by attempting to cure disease or slow the aging process.

In recent times, one of the most important steps that have been made toward the goal of a longer and healthier lifespan seems to be the research regarding stem cells. If you are not a scientist or a medical researcher, the information that is available on stem cells and their applications might seem confusing or even frightening. Stem cell research can be explained simply by taking a look at the process.

Stem cells are actually found in every single organism that has more than a single cell. Stem cells are a sort of building block within the cellular structure of a living organism. These cells are different from a typical cell in two ways. First, a stem cell is able to divide continuously without the “stopping point” that other cells have within their design. Most cells replicate a certain number of times or for a period of time and then can no longer renew themselves.

A stem cell does not have this inherent limitation. Even after a long period of dormancy, a stem cell can begin to renew itself. Second, a stem cell is capable of remaining a stem cell or becoming any other type of cell within the body. Under the right conditions, a stem cell can become a brain cell or a muscle or tissue cell. There are very few limits to the capabilities of stem cells, making them unique in cellular structure.

Stem cells have been in the news since the early 1980s when scientists found that embryonic stem cells from mice could be harvested from mouse embryos. These cells could be induced to form tissues and even entire organs as the research progressed. Two different types of stem cells were identified at that time. Embryonic stem cells and somatic or “adult” stem cells have been a mainstay of stem cell researchers for almost 30 years.

Human embryonic stem cells have been used since the late 1990s in reproductive areas like in vitro fertilization procedures. Later, these cells were studied for use in organ and tissue growth and replacement procedures. In the United States, all embryonic stem cells come from embryos donated for scientific research purposes.

In recent years, stem cell research and its potential has become a heated issue in both scientific and political circles. It is likely that this issue will remain controversial regardless of the impact that stem cells make on medicine and the longevity of mankind. Stem cells are a tiny part of the human body that have become a polarizing issue in the world of science.

A cord blood bank is a place that keeps the blood from the umbilical cord in case it’s ever needed. It can be stored for private use or donated to a facility that can use it to help save the lives of others.

The uses for the blood include helping to fight certain health issues such as leukemia, some types of anemia and many other diseases that threaten the lives of those who contract or are born with them.

The important factor in banking the blood is due to the stem cells. By using cord blood, the stem cells can be given to someone to help eradicate cells in the body that aren’t normal – such as ones that aren’t working correctly or ones that cancer has damaged. You might think this is a fairly new area of medical research, but using cord blood to save lives has been around since the 1980s.

Using a process called cryopreservation (a process where the blood temperature is lowered to sub-zero temps), the blood is kept safely until it’s needed.  The blood stored at a cord blood bank has been used in the fight against neuroblastoma, an aggressive cancerous tumor found in the tissues and nerves of the body.

It mainly affects children and cord blood is one of the warriors fighting against this disease. Because of the way the blood is preserved, it can be stored for many years and once a child reaches the legal age, he or she can use the donation if their children need it, since there’s no expiration date on the frozen blood.

When the blood is given to the bank, a process takes place that screens the blood and takes out the red blood cells. Because red blood cells can cause problems if reintroduced back into the body, you want to search for a facility that offers 99% purity.

That means they’ve successfully removed the red blood cells so that there won’t be problems when the blood is used. By taking this purity step, that means that when you need it, the blood is ready immediately for use instead of having to go through the step to remove red blood cells at the time of need.

By saving cord blood with a cord blood bank, you can plan ahead in the event a family member develops an illness that can be successfully treated. The process is extremely quick and easy.

Once the baby is born, the blood from the cord can be collected in five minutes or less and the facility where the blood is to be stored will pick up the blood and take it back to be preserved. You can’t know when a serious disease is going to happen to a loved one, but by banking on it, you can give them a better chance to beat the disease.