Congratulations! If you are about to have a baby, this is a
very exciting time in your life. There
are certainly many things to consider as you approach parenthood for the first
time (or the second or third, etc) and many choices to make. One of these decisions is about an
interesting and innovative technology – cord blood banking.
This isn’t a decision that you can make in the
delivery room. You have to plan ahead,
decide on a cord blood bank, and have a kit prepared and ready to go at
delivery. For this reason, you’ll want to have done research about cord blood
banking and understand the positive and negative reasons to be part of this
process. Here we’ll explore the positive
implications of storing cord blood.
Why Store Cord Blood?
There are many positive reasons to store cord
blood for your baby. The number one
reason to store a newborn’s cord blood is if there is a close family member or
child with a family medical history of disease.
This would include diseases that can be treated and helped with a bone
marrow transplant. The blood found in
the placenta and umbilical cord can aid a family member who needs stem cells in
case of a bone marrow transplant. These
would include such diseases as leukemia, aplastic anemia, sickle cell anemia
and immune deficiencies of many kinds.
A Good Investment
Parents who choose to store their baby’s cord
blood look at it as an insurance plan.
When you buy homeowner’s insurance or car insurance, you certainly hope
that you won’t ever have to use it. You
pay this money up front as insurance against future issues or problems. Cord blood banking is very similar. The procedure is completely non-invasive to
the mother or baby, as the blood is taken from the umbilical cord after delivery. The procedure takes only a few
minutes and the cord blood is stored in a lab.
The family will not have to give one second of thought to the cord blood
once it is taken.
However, should someone in the family become
sick and need a bone marrow transplant, the family feels that they have
invested wisely and can draw on their stored supply of stem cells. Storing cord blood becomes an insurance plan
for your newborn or other family members, should you ever need to use it.
Peace of Mind and Future Hope
This peace of mind is very important to many
people and is the main reason that cord blood banking has increased in popularity
since its inception in the 1970s. In
addition, while cord blood is primarily used for bone marrow transplants, there is always the hope that new research will allow it to be used to
cure even more diseases and problems.
Storing stem cells now allows the family to be part of future
discoveries and cures, should they become available.
These are many of the advantages today for
cord blood banking. There are certainly
disadvantages as well that should be considered before any decision is
made. Learn more about cord blood
banking and make an educated decision that will benefit you and your growing
family.
