by Les
If you donate cord blood you are not donating the mother’s blood, you are donating the baby’s blood that has been left behind in the umbilical cord after birth. Umbilical cord blood is full of stem cells, those little cells that has the science community going mad. Why? Stem cells are the basic building blocks of our bodies.
The stem cells collected from donated stems cells are being used to treat people with spinal cord damage and cancers such as leukemia, particularly childhood leukemia. It is hoped that one day they will be able to take stem cells and grow new organs such as a liver or heart. Stem cells taken from a newborn baby are still in their primitive state and can be trained to do specific jobs within the body. For this reason umbilical cord blood donations are important
Collecting cord blood is not an invasive process. Once a baby is born, the umbilical cord is removed and along with the placenta, disposed of as hospital waste. Rather than throwing the umbilical cord and the umbilical cord blood out, the umbilical cord blood can be removed using a syringe. The cord blood is then sent away where the cord blood stem cells are removed and stored until required.
As a parent, you have two options for cord blood collection. The first is to donate cord blood. The umbilical cord blood is sent to a central cord blood registry. They often have a waiting list of patients and scientist looking for stem cells. The most common use is for the treatment of juvenile leukemia where it has a high success rate.
You can also have the cord blood stem cells stored or ‘banked’ for future use by your family. Cord blood has been used to treat siblings as well as the baby itself. Collection will cost around $2000 with an annual fee of around $100.
Science has looked upon cord blood stem cells as one of the holly grails of science. The ability to repair spinal problems and restore movement to para/quadriplegics has received a huge push due to recent progress in research. There are already 70 known diseases that can be cured using cord blood stem cells - the biggest problem has been the lack of cord blood donations. It is estimated that cord blood is collected in only one in five hundred births - the remaining four hundred and ninety-nine births have their umbilical cords thrown away.
The best thing you can do to help increase in the amount of cord blood collected is to use the service and donate cord blood. If you are pregnant, ask the hospital or midwife if they collect cord blood. If not, there are many agencies that will collect it, either for public cord blood banking, or, if you are prepared to pay the price, your own personal cord blood banking. If friends or relatives are pregnant, get them to inquire about the process.
The more parents who donate cord blood for research, the more likely science will find cures for diseases such as juvenile diabetes, brain injuries and spinal column injuries. Who would have thought that cord blood stem cells could do so much? Umbilical cord blood donations may be the future of our health.
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