When a mother is still pregnant with her child, the umbilical cord is actually considered as the lifeline between the mother and the baby. Once the umbilical cord has been discarded after the baby?s birth, then you will lose the chance of being able to obtain precious cells that the cord contains which are an exact match with your baby and that you can have preserved. By preserving your baby?s stem cells through cord blood banking, your baby will be ensured to have a guaranteed source for perfectly matched cells that can help your child during unfortunate events (like a life threatening illness). These cells would actually come in handy when it comes to combating this disease. All you have to do is just have it set up during the time of your delivery.

But what exactly are diseases that the cord blood banking will help you save your child from? Stem cells that are preserved due to the cord blood banking can actually help a child be cured of the following life-threatening illnesses: leukemia, lymphoma, breast cancer, Hodgkin?s disease, aplastic anemia, various other cancers, sickle cell anemia, blood diseases, hereditary/genetic conditions and various immune system disorders. There are actually an approximate of 14 million new cancer cases that are being recoded every year. Single cell transplants that can be brought about by cord blood banking can also be used for the treatment of ling cancer, AIDS, lupus, multiple sclerosis as well as many other genetic diseases.

You may also be wondering if cord blood banking can actually be beneficial to all of your kids because you may have only one child undergo the cord blood banking process. Well in cord blood banking, your baby will be well ensured that the stem cells will be a perfect match for him or her as well as in the case of having an identical twin.

If there is a family medical history or your child has a predisposition to any of these diseases, you should seriously consider cord blood banking. Parents of children of ethnic or racial minorities and children conceived through in vitro fetilization are encouraged to bank cord blood as it is more difficult to find bone marrow match in these cases. Only 50% of people that need a bone marrow or stem cell transplant are likely to find a suitable donor to provide it.

There are two ways to store your baby's cord blood. If you choose public cord blood banking, your baby's blood is taken from the umbilical cord, stored cryogenically and can be used by anyone that is in need of it. However, cord blood that is stored in a private bank can only be used for your child or other family members when required.

Umbilical cord blood stem cells are more primitive than bone marrow stem cells. Hence, they harbor a lower risk of graft versus host disease (GVHD). This makes it possible to use less than perfect matches for transplants. Ultra-modern cord blood banking technologies induce multiplication of cord blood stem cells by ex vivo expansion.

The Unites States has several companies dealing with cord blood banking. The most popular among them are Cord Blood Registry and ViaCord. If you are interested in cord blood banking, then you need to take a second look at your wallet.

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