Umbilical Cord Blood Donations
After a mother gives birth, most hospitals discard the umbilical cord because they serve no purpose then and there. However, hospitals have recently been encouraging parents to make umbilical cord donations to cord blood banks . Where do these umbilical cords go and what purpose do they serve? The answers will be explained in this article.
Where they go
In the United Kingdom , umbilical cord blood donations are common. The country's National Blood Service oversees the funding and research of these donations. These donations are stored in cord blood banks where they are preserved by freezing them. In the United Kingdom , these donations are currently offered in commercial cord blood banks that cater to the medical needs of its citizens. Each citizen is informed about these sales by a company called the “Bounty” organization.
The United States also has a number of commercial blood banks. These banks encourage mothers to store their child's umbilical cord for an indefinite amount of time. Currently, the United States Department of Health and Human Services has been aiming to create a National Cord Blood Policy Board. This organization will be responsible for setting rules and standards of umbilical cord blood donations . Aside from setting the standards, it will also be in charge of the collection and use of these donations.
What they are used for
For those who are wondering what happens to the donations, well they are used for further stem cell research. Cord blood is an extremely useful source of hematopoietic stem cells. These are regenerative cells that are similar to those found in the bone marrow. According to the United States National Academies of Science, transplanted cord blood stem cells have already been used to save or extend the lives of 20,000 Americans suffering from certain blood disorders such as leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and others.
Types of Umbilical Cord Blood donations
There are three types of umbilical cord blood donations . They are:
• Altruistic donations
• Directed donations in at risk families
• Directed donations in low-risk families
1. Altruistic Umbilical Cord Blood Donations
Altruistic donations are those derived from donors who are not related in any way to the patient. As long as the sample is compatible with the recipient, these samples will be available to those who are in need of it. There are around 65,000 samples stored worldwide that can be brought to any other country. Although people can donate for recipients they are not related with, the collection of altruistic donations are conducted for logistic reasons only.
2. Directed Umbilical Cord Blood donations in at risk families
Some transplant centers recommend families to donate cord blood especially if the family is known to have genetic diseases. By storing these donations, they can be used to help cure their children and their siblings who may have acquired any genetic defect.
3. Directed Umbilical Cord Blood donation in low-risk families
You can simply think of this as an insurance policy. Though your family has no record of any genetic disorders, you can still choose to store cord blood just in case. According to a commercial storage provider, the chances of a child acquiring a disease that can be cured by stem cells is 1 to 300 to 400. Recently, only two out of 10,000 stored samples have been used, although this number may rise as time progresses.