Helping Your Child With Blood Cord Banking
Blood cord banking is something you can do to help your soon-to-be born child in case he gets sick in the future. The umbilical cord is the lifeline between the mother and her unborn child, and it is through it that the baby gets all the nutrients when still in the mother's womb. Normally, once the baby is born, the umbilical cord is cut and discarded. It was thought to be of no use to the baby or the mother. However, modern studies have discovered that the blood inside the umbilical cord is a rich resource for stem cells that can possibly cure a lot of illnesses through transplantation and cell regeneration. This blood cord can be stored and frozen for future use should the child need, for example, a bone marrow transplant when he or she is older. This blood cord can be stored through “blood cord banking.”
The process of blood cord banking
There are public and private cord blood services and banks that you can go to for cord blood storage. Public cord banks are non-profit and usually harvest blood cord through donation. They appropriate these donations to other families who need it and have compatible blood types or lines. On the other hand, private blood cord banks are run for profit. They store blood cord for families for their own use for a handsome fee. Blood cord banking is done by first harvesting the blood cord upon the birth of the baby by the physician, nurse or midwife. The blood cord is then put inside a sterile kit provided by the Cord Partners Blood Center . It will be specially sealed and transported to the cord blood blanking laboratory for testing and processing. The blood cord sample will be stored using a cryogenic process. It will be itemized until the owner needs it and retrieves it in the future. There is a concern whether the process of blood cord banking is safe for the mother and the baby. Harvesting the blood cord is painless and safe for both parties because the umbilical cord contains no nerves so the process is painless.
Reactions and benefits
Helping your child through private blood cord banking may be an unconventional means to secure your child's future. In fact, there are groups that protest the morality and question the ethics behind this practice. However, nobody can deny the fact that blood cord banking can protect your child in the future in case he acquires a life-threatening disease. Not only is it beneficial for your child, the cord blood can also be compatible to some members of your family who can also get sick. There is a big probability that the blood cord is compatible with a sibling if another child in your family is faced with a deathly illness. There is actually a 1:4 chance of a stem cell match between siblings. Blood cord banking can help your child get treatment for the following life-threatening illnesses: lymphoma, leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, breast cancer, aplastic anemia, sickle cell anemia, hereditary or genetic conditions, blood diseases, various other cancers, various immune system disorders, lupus, and so on.