All that you need to know about cord blood banking

Last updated on March 8, 2017

Are you expecting a child soon? Do you think you are ready to take the responsibility of a new life? Are you sure that you are completely aware of all the facts that you need to know when it comes to ensuring your baby’s safety?

Well, then you must understand cord blood banking. It is one of the most important techniques that are being used these days to make sure that your baby receives all the treatment that he or she needs, throughout their lives.

What is cord blood banking?

Cord blood banking is, basically, the process of storing the blood collected from your child’s umbilical cord, while still being attached to the placenta, in a bank. This cord blood is the repository of stem cells that can be used to treat various types of life threatening diseases.

Ways of cord blood banking

There are primarily two ways that you can opt for when it comes to cord blood banking mumbai:

• You can store your baby’s cord blood in a bank, pay some money and keep it under your baby’s name that it will be used in the future only for your child’s health problems.

• The other option is that you can donate your baby’s cord blood to a bank, which can be used for anybody with life-threatening disease, much like storing blood in a blood bank.

Collection of cord blood

If you are worried that collecting cord blood from your newborn might prove to be painful for your child, then worry not since it is a completely painless process. Right after a vaginal or c-section delivery, typically the cord is cut by either the surgeon or the partner. Right after the clamping and cutting of the cord is done, the part of the umbilical cord, which is still attached to the placenta, is where the cord blood is connected. It is a painless process, and hence, it does not harm you or your child in any way. Care should be taken that the cord cutting should not be delayed more than 2mins since after that the blood will start to clot and clotted cord blood will be of no use.

Why should I store cord blood?

Let us come to the most important question-Why do we need to store cord blood? The most important reason why baby cord blood banking is so important is that this blood contains stem cells. Stem cells are very important for our immune system and blood. These are multipurpose cells since they can develop into other types of cells as well and can be used to treat various kinds of diseases related to blood and immune system. For example, if a person has leukaemia or blood cancer, then the typical treatment process involves killing the bad cells with the help of chemotherapy and then allowing new and healthy cells to develop. The new cells can effectively develop with the help of a stem cell transplant. Just like this, various types of diseases can be treated with stem cells.

Thus, cord blood banking is beneficial for your own child’s health. It is the best possible way to safeguard the health of your baby for the rest of its life.