Many expecting mothers think about a lot of things and prepare for various possibilities. Aside from busying oneself in decorating the nursery in your home and buying baby clothes, some expecting parents also consider saving their newborn’s umbilical cord blood.
Some people may not have heard of this practice and may find it odd. However, this procedure can help you keep your baby or another family member healthy and safe. To further understand the concept, here’s some cord blood info for you.
What Is Cord Blood?
Doctors or other birth experts cut a newborn baby’s umbilical cord. Despite this, the blood vessels in the placenta and the attached part of the umbilical cord still have some blood. People call this the umbilical cord blood, which is also known as cord blood.
Cord blood has all the elements that blood has. It has a plasma, platelets, white blood cells, and red blood cells. Aside from this, it is also rich in blood stem cells, which are similar to the ones that exist in bone marrows.
Cord Blood for Treatment of Various Diseases
The use of stem cells in treating various conditions has been around for years. One procedure uses bone marrow stem cells. However, there is another type. Some medical professionals use the umbilical cord blood for stem cell therapy due to its many advantages.
- More people can benefit from stem cells that came from cord blood that those that are from the bone marrow. The reason is that more people can match the cord blood transplant. The possibility of rejection is also less in cord blood stem cells than in bone marrow stem cells.
- Collecting bone marrow is harder. Furthermore, the collection of bone marrow stem cells poses more risks and can cause pain to the donor or source.
- You can store or freeze cord blood. Thus, it is readily available if you need it. Meanwhile, you should immediately use bone marrow upon collection.
- Cord blood stem cells can strengthen the immune system. This advantage is especially helpful for patients that are undergoing cancer treatments.
Storage and Banking of Cord Blood
As stated earlier, cord blood can be frozen and stored for years. The method of freezing is known as cryopreservation. Through this, you can maintain the integrity of the stem cells. It is crucial to store umbilical cord blood properly. Thus, only professionals with proper medical facilities should do it.
As a parent, you can opt to store the cord blood of your baby in a private facility or bank. This way, it will be available in case you would need it in the future for your child’s health. First-degree and second-degree relatives can also benefit from it. You can search for private cord banks that offer blood collection as well as storage. Some people choose to donate their cor blood in public banks.
Here’s a few more cord blood info that may help you appreciate it:
- Saving umbilical cord blood is safe and not painful for the mother and her baby. The umbilical cord is cut immediately upon delivery. You can request the collection of the blood as an additional procedure. The process is simple. The professionals insert a needle connected to a collection bag into the umbilical cord vein. Then, the blood will flow to the bag.
- The stem cells will be a 100% match for your child. A sibling or another family member may also match with these stem cells. Also, cord blood stem cells are easy to match since there are no immune cells that have developed yet.
- The stem cells from your baby’s cord blood provide a medical option for you in case you need it in the future.
- Cord blood stem cells can rebuild white blood cells, red blood cells, bone cartilage, and nerves.
- Studies show that cord blood can treat more than 80 conditions.
- The only time you can collect and save umbilical cord blood is at birth.
Cord Blood Stem Cells and Autism
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), more commonly known as autism, is among the conditions that one can treat using cord blood stem cells. So if you discover that your child has autism after a few months or years, you can count on cord blood to treat them.
