If you are planning a baby or expecting a baby, then you must have heard about umbilical cord blood and the other ways to make the life of the baby safe.
Expecting parents do many things to ensure safety for the life of the baby. Not only do they make the house baby-safe but also do things like plugging up empty electrical sockets, get a good car seat, buy cribs that are strong and study and many other such things. These days, expectant parents have added another thing to this list of measures and that is banking the baby’s umbilical cord blood. In this process, the blood from the baby’s umbilical cord is taken at the time of birth and is saved in a private blood bank.
This blood is stored and saved because it is rich in the stem cells which have the ability to transform themselves into any human cell. By doing this, the baby can be given treatment for many types of injuries and illnesses later in life.
Infact, this saved blood can also come in use of the sibling of the baby and even the parents and grandparents to a certain extent. So basically, banking cord blood is a way of preserving lifesaving cells which may otherwise just get thrown away at the time of the birth of the baby. The following will explain to you the importance of banking baby’s cord blood even further:
- Stem cells are immature cells which have the ability not only to turn into other types of human cells but also to reproduce themselves. By saving these types of cells at the time of birth from the umbilical cord, the baby can be saved from many diseases, ailments, injuries and irregularities throughout the course of life.
- Some of the diseases from which these stem cells can protect the child from or treat are sickle cell anemia, lymphoma and leukemia. Babies with these diseases and some others can be injected with these HPC stem cells in order to replenish the blood supply with new and healthy cells.
- The stem cells collected as a result of banking baby’s cord blood can also help the body to recover from some of the cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation.
- Cord blood is a proven and highly effective source of blood-forming stem cells for people with some diseases of specific nature.
- Another fact that will help you understand or fathom the importance of blood cord banking is that this procedure has saved over 20000 lives in the US in the past few years.
- This procedure can prove useful not just for the baby but also for his/her siblings and parents. This is another reason why it is so important and must be atleast considered while you are pregnant.
- Some other conditions for which stem cells saving can be useful include nervous system disorders, brain and spinal cord injuries, to heal body in many types of new ways and for healthy recovery.
