The facts about the banking of umbilical cord blood

The umbilical cord blood storage is the process by which umbilical cord blood is received and stored from a newborn. The umbilical cord is the cord that sticks during pregnancy from the baby's navel to the placenta in the mother's womb. The umbilical cord is the channel for supplying the growing fetus with nutrients and oxygen. Until recently, umbilical cord and placenta were considered medical waste and used to get simply disposed of after birth.

The researchers found that stem cells can cure many diseases such as leukemia and help others, such as brain injuries and Alzheimer's. The umbilical cord blood is full of these valuable stem cells. Cerebral palsy gets successfully treated with stem cells. Research suggests that additional stem cell applications, such as spinal cord repair, are being discovered. Stem cell research is at the forefront of medicine and the potential for new ways to cure stem cell disease is enormous.

The removal of umbilical cord blood is completely painless for mother and baby. If you would like to donate the baby's umbilical cord blood or would like to use it privately or publicly, you should inform the doctor and the bank of your choice before the 34th week of pregnancy. The selected bank will send experts to collect umbilical cord blood once it gets disconnected and the placenta released.

About 80 ml or the equivalent of 3 ounces of blood collects. The blood must collect within 10-15 minutes after birth, so prior consultation is required. The removal of this blood in no way interferes with the birth. The donation to a public bank is free.

After collection, umbilical cord blood is analyzed to detect disease. When one of these diseases gets discovered, the bank informs the family. The blood is then processed and slowly frozen to -196 degrees. The blood can be stored for an indefinite period while maintaining the temperature. Banking cord blood has more energy sources to avoid the loss of this valuable resource.

The bank can take care of the future health of your child. If you cannot afford to collect and store the umbilical cord blood from your newborn, consider donating it. It costs nothing and is painless, but it can save someone's life. Who knows, maybe the umbilical cord blood donated can help someone one day.