If your family has a history of hereditary genetic health conditions, you may want to consider investing in cord blood storage immediately after the birth of your baby. Many cord blood banks offer a range of fee options for short-term or long-term storage. By storing the cord blood with a reputable private blood bank for the long term, you may be able to help safeguard your child’s future health.

What is cord blood?

Cord blood is the residue of blood that remains in the umbilical cord after the birth of a baby. It can be extracted easily and painlessly. It has a high content of hematopoietic stem cells that are similar to the ones found in the bone marrow. These stem cells are capable of differentiating into blood cells, brain cells, and other cells and tissues. It is also possible to preserve them indefinitely in cord blood storage using cryogenic freezing methods. That makes these stem cells invaluable for medical research to find medical treatments for a range of health conditions.

Why should parents save cord blood?

Parents should consider placing cord blood in cord blood storage with reputable private blood banks for the following reasons:

• The blood banks follow the guidelines set by the American Association of Blood Banks and have well-equipped storage facilities that can keep cord blood safe for future use.

• The differentiation abilities of the hematopoietic stem cells from the cord blood can help treat cancers, blood disorders, arthritis, diabetes, and many other health conditions.

• The therapy is relatively non-invasive and painless.

• It can save the family time in finding compatible cord blood or cord blood donor in case of a health emergency.

• It can enable siblings to benefit from each other’s stored cord blood if the need ever arises.

• It can lower the risk of rejection by the body’s immune system since the cord blood will generally be compatible with all blood relations.

• The cord blood will serve as biological insurance to provide essential and life-saving treatment to your child now or in the future.

How do you store the cord blood with a blood bank?

As a parent, you need to prepare for storing your baby’s cord blood before the baby is born. It is a good idea to research and compare the blood banks in your area to find one suitable for your purposes. You want to look for a blood bank with FDA approval and which states clearly that it follows the American Association of Blood Banks guidelines. You should also inquire about their track record so far in storing and supplying cord blood.

Ideally, the blood bank should have experience with storing cord blood for ten or more years. Inquire about the number of people who retrieved their cord blood successfully.

After you register with the blood bank, they will provide you with a cord blood collection kit. You can hand that over to your doctor a few days before the birth. After the baby is born, the doctor will insert a needle into the placenta that is still attached to you and draw out the cord blood into the collection bag. The procedure is safe and will not cause you or your newborn any discomfort or pain. However, there is more blood from vaginal delivery procedures than C-section procedures. The doctor or the nurse will then give the collection back to the representative of the blood bank.

The representative will transport the collection bag to the company premises. Here, the blood bank technicians will process the cord blood in a centrifuge to get a concentrated amount of stem cells. They will then put these stem cells in special storage bags and store them at around minus 190 degrees in a vapor phase liquid nitrogen storage tank. Such cryogenic freezing can enable cord blood storage for very long periods.

When you need cord blood in the future for medical purposes, the blood bank will unfreeze and make it viable again. It will dispatch the cord blood to the hospital where you are receiving your treatment. Your doctor can then inject it into the affected areas of your body and the cord blood will create new cells that can help you to recover.