Why to choose cord blood banking?

Storing your child’s cord blood cell might provide the lifeline to the child or any blood relative. Umbilical cord blood is a great source of adult stem cells which are the building blocks of human life and are being used for the treatment of more than 80 life threatening diseases. Over the last 20 years, the number of cord blood transplants has increased year on year, and the biological understanding of cord blood stem cells has grown tremendously. Stem cell technology and therapy have seen tremendous interest and growth in the last few years and holds the promise for many more healthcare applications in future.

There are two major sources where stem cells are commonly found, Bone marrow and Umbilical cord blood and cord tissue. Doctors prefer umbilical cord blood cells as they can be easily gathered while stem cell from bone marrow involves a stressful procedure which includes general anesthesia and hospitalization.

Cord blood cells have unique property to develop into different kind of cells including bone muscles and blood cells; they are being used in for organ transplant, cancer and heart disorders and many other life threatening diseases. Use of stem cells has shown amazing breakthrough in treatment of blood and immune system related genetic diseases, cancers, and blood disorders as cord blood cells have ten times better ability to generate blood producing cells. In case of cord blood cells transplants the immune system of the patients has less tendency of rejection whereas chances increases in case of bone marrow or other donor transplant. Stem cell banking can help the family relatives as well in case of stem cell transplant as the best stem cells are your own or from a compatible close relative. Stem cells transplants from cord blood do not require a perfect match the way bone marrow transplants do, and are less invasive for the donor. This makes matching a donor to recipient easier. Although there are 25 percent chances that a sibling will be a perfect match for a baby's cord blood cells

Collecting stem cells from the umbilical cord is very simple it does not harm mother or child, whereas taking stem cells from embryo can destroy it. Pregnancy Tips : Expecting mothers considers storing your baby's stem cells; the first thing to do is to contact a company offering the service for advice and check with your maternity hospital or midwife to make sure they can collect an umbilical cord blood sample.
Banking child’s cord blood cells assures if that child then falls ill with a condition that could be helped or even cured by using their stem cells, they can be thawed and reused in future.