Umbilical Cord Banking

Umbilical cord Banking is the system where collected cord blood is being processed and then stored in a place that is called “Cord Blood Bank” for future use or transplantation. The blood bank may be publicly owned or private. It is a public blood bank when the blood so stored is assessable to unrelated donors while it is a private one if the blood stored and all the cost attributable to its storage is paid by the donor’s family. It is the collection and storage of the stem cells from a newborn baby’s umbilical cord.

When a baby’s cord is being banked, you are making a good decision that will go a long way in providing a lifesaving treatment not only for your child but all other family members as well. This is because cord blood cells have been administered successfully for the treatment of some life threatening diseases.

Importance of Umbilical Cord Banking

Umbilical Cord Banking has offered so many benefits in the past which makes it to be very important. Some of the reasons why umbilical cord banking is import are: -

• Cord blood is a source of stem cells which are the main source of blood cells in the body.
• Cord blood can serve as a substitute to bone marrow transplantation in children which saves life in a situation where a suitable bone marrow donor could not be found.
• The cord blood stem can be used in the treatment of some critical diseases, blood, immune system related genetic diseases, blood disorders and cancer.
• The processed cord blood can be used for the replenishment of the stem cells in case of stem cell transplant.
• Umbilical cord banking process is pain free, easy and suitable for banking as it requires simple testing for eligibility.
• Umbilical cord banking allows you to save and store your baby’s umbilical cord blood for future use.
• The placenta and the blood are very vital to the body because of the stem cells from them which can be transplanted for the growth of a new healthy bone marrow.
• Transplanted cord blood from the umbilical cord banking can be used to grow other types of body tissues.

In conclusion, Umbilical cord banking is essential for parents who would like to retrieve their baby’s cord blood in future. The cord blood bank is the facility that stores the cord blood for future need. You can choose the private bank store system that has a link to the identity of the donor, so that the banked blood can be retrieved by the family of the donor when required by the family or public where donation is banked on the agreement that it can be used for anybody that needs it. Whichever one so desired, you must follow the already laid down strict regulations. Among the regulations is that the expectant mother that is interested in donation must contact the bank before 34th week of her pregnancy.