Saving Cord Blood

What is cord blood and how is it saved? Cord blood is saved by clamping off the umbilical cord immediately after birth and draining the blood form the umbilical cord (about 3 to 5 oz,) The blood is then taken to a storage bank where it is tested and then frozen. There is no discomfort to the mother or baby and no interference in the birth process.

Cord blood is valuable because it contains very primitive stem cells that are capable of developing into many different cell types. Cord blood can be transplanted into someone suffering from leukemia, for example, where it is used instead of a bone marrow transplant. Other cancers, some inherited disorders of blood chemistry can also be treated with cord blood. All in all 45 disorders can be treated with stem cells from the umbilical cord.

Private, for profit cord blood banks will contact many prospective parents. They ask the parents to save the cord blood with them. They argue that the parents are saving the baby’s cord blood for a future possibility of disease. The cost of these banks runs from $250 to $1500 plus a yearly fee of $50 to $100. However, this is an area of some controversy. If your child has leukemia, for example, her saved cord blood will do her no good because the cord blood itself will likely have leukemia in it. The same thing would be true for genetic disorders. However, if a relative already has a disease that could be treated with a cord blood transplant, then it makes sense to save your baby’s cord blood with a private. Bank.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has put out the following statement: “Given the difficulty of making an accurate estimate of the need for autologous (donation from self) transplantation and the ready availability of allogeneric (donation form a sibling or unrelated person) transplantation, private storage of cord blood as ‘biological insurance’ is unwise. However, banking should be considered if there is a family member with a current or potential need to undergo a stem cell transplantation.”