What is cord blood banking

Question:
What is cord blood banking?

Answer:

Cord blood banking is a medical option that offers parents the opportunity to collect and cryogenically store their newborn’s umbilical cord blood stem cells for use in medical treatments if ever needed. Like stem cells from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood stem cells can be used to treat various genetic disorders that affect the blood and immune system, leukemia, certain cancers, and some inherited disorders. 

To date, more than 45 disorders have been treated with stem cells from umbilical cord blood. Cord blood stem cells not only may replace bone marrow stem cells in treating different disorders, but because they are more primitive than those found in bone marrow, they may also be used to help rebuild a patient’s immune system weakened by radiation or chemotherapy. In addition, stem cell research is progressing rapidly and current studies have shown the potential to use cord blood stem cells to treat heart attack, spinal cord injuries, and diabetes.

Banking your baby’s cord blood guarantees a perfect match for your child and can potentially be a match for siblings and parents. Increasingly, a related cord blood stem cell transplant is preferred over unrelated cord blood stem cells or bone marrow when treating siblings or other family members. This makes banking cord blood for all siblings all the more important.