There are actually a lot of promising breakthroughs with cord blood treatment. That is why umbilical cord blood banking is gaining popularity. Collection of cord blood is not at all painful or harmful to the baby. Once the cord is cut, a needle is inserted to the cord’s vein to collect the blood. The needle collects the remaining blood through a catheter that is attached to a blood bag. Once the process of collection is completed in the delivery room the collected blood will be sent to a cord blood bank. The blood bank will cryopreserve the cord blood and will make it available for future use.

Umbilical cord blood banking is available through public and private cord blood banks. Cord blood can be donated to a public cord blood bank which is free but the cord blood can be used by anyone who will need it. On the other hand, private cord blood banks can cryopreserve the cord blood and have it available for future use by the donor or relatives. This is for the purpose of autologous transfusion. The private cord blood banks collect a substantial fee upon receiving the blood and annual fee for cryopreservation.

Umbilical cord blood banking may soon be a medical thing of the future. There are no ethical setbacks that may hold research projects on it as compared to embryonic stem cells. Cord blood collection is not harmful to human life. Medical researchers believe that by the year 2015 there will be around 10,000 cord blood transplantations. There will be more regenerative diseases that can be corrected by cord blood. That is why the government has full support for research studies and establishment of cord blood banks.

Cord blood banking has been gaining popularity since a cord blood transfusion was done in 1988. The remaining blood in the umbilical cord after it has been cut during delivery is collected. In the process of collection, there is no harm done to the baby or the mother. And the collection process is pretty simple and requires minimal time. This in any way does not impose an ethical problem that is why medical researches have been on the way without any setbacks. Studies show a lot of promise for cord blood use. At the moment, it is being used to treat brain injuries, diabetes type 1 and cardiovascular problems.

Once the cord blood is collected, it will be processed and cryopreserved in a cord blood bank. Cord blood banking services can be provided by a public cord blood bank or a private cord blood bank. When it is donated to a public cord blood bank, the cord blood is tissue typed and added to the data base. The data base is accessible by hospitals that may need them for a particular patient. The stem cells deposited in a public cord blood bank is available to the public. The processing and preservation process is free.

On the other hand, the private cord blood bank processes and cryopreserves cord blood for possible future use of the donor or the family. Private cord blood banking is done with a fee. It is a bit costly that is why it has been plagued with criticisms from both the medical and patient aspects. This type of blood banking is useful for those donors with known existing genetic problems like leukemia and diabetes type 1. It is extra helpful for patients who require autologous transfusion of stem cells. Autologous transfusion is when the patient gets transfused with his own blood due to compatibility problems.

Banking cord blood is not only practical but beneficial as well.  It can be useful for the baby and relatives, to other people who might need it and to the advancement of medical research.  It has been found out that cord blood is rich in stem cells.  Stem cells are precursor cells.  It generates production of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelet.  It is also known to aid regeneration process of tissues that have been damaged like in the case of heart attack and stroke.  Stem cells are an important medical management treatment for leukemia and other forms of cancer.

It can be beneficial for your own baby and siblings if you decide on banking cord blood.  This is so if there is a known genetic regenerative disease condition in your family.  Your baby may be able to use his own cord blood when needed in the future.  Especially in cases when your baby will need an autologous cord blood transfusion and because being transfused with your own cord blood eliminates the problem of immune rejection during transfusion.  When you are considering cord blood banking for this purpose, it will be best for you to contact a private cord blood bank.

Banking cord blood can be done through either a private or public cord blood bank.  As mentioned already, private cord blood bank collects, processes and cryopreserve your cord blood for the future use of your own baby or close relatives.  The private cord blood bank will charge you with a certain amount for their services.  It can be a bit expensive but worth enough if it meant to save your loved one’s life.  The public cord blood bank on the other hand will do the same services without collecting any fee from you.  But the cord blood collected will be made available to the general public.  Anyone who is a match and needs it for transfusion is able to use the cord blood you donated.

The final step in cord blood storage is done in the laboratory.  The blood is now ready for cryopreservation.  This simply means that the blood will be preserved by cooling to low sub-zero temperature level.  At a very low level temperature, biological activity of the cells will stop.  Biochemical reactions that lead to cellular death will also be stopped in order to keep the cells alive.  It is important that during cryopreservation, the blood has to be treated first with cryoprotectant solutions.  The solution will prevent damage to the cells once it undergoes the freezing and thawing processes.  It is believed that the process of freezing should be done gradually to prevent damage to the cells. 

When the cord blood is already frozen to a temperature of -90 Celsius, it is added to a liquid nitrogen tank so to keep it on -196 Celsius temperature.  There has been no established protocol yet in cryopreserving cord blood.  The protocols being used is based on those originally designed for cryopreservation of bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells.  Several studies are still being done on what would be best for cord blood.  Things like whether it is best to use liquid nitrogen or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), slow or controlled cooling rate, and rapid thawing are still being considered.  These are just some of the complex process of cord blood storage.

There has been some issues raised on the expensive fees being collected by private cord blood banks for cord blood storage.  Private cord blood banks are arguing that the expenses of testing, processing and storage of cord blood are expensive.  If they will not collect high fees, they might be forced to cost cut in the quality of testing and preserving.  This might lead to substandard products which could be harmful for those who will use it.  Operational expenses must also be put into consideration.

If you are a pregnant woman and you decide to donate your baby’s cord blood, cord blood banks are available to facilitate the process.  They will be there on your delivery in order to collect the cord blood right after the umbilical cord of your baby is cut.  The collected cord blood will be brought to the laboratory to undergo several tests and processing.  After which it will be cryopreserved and will be made available for those who need cord blood transfusion.

There are two types of cord blood banks.  There’s a public and a private blood bank.  A public blood bank is a non-profit oriented institution.  They are often initiated by local government agencies like the Department of Health.  When you donate cord blood through a public cord blood bank, they will not charge you any amount.  But the cord blood you have donated will be made available to anyone who will need it.  So if your intention of donating cord blood is for the future use of your child or a relative, the public cord blood bank is not the one you should call. 

There are also the private cord blood banks.  They will facilitate the collection, testing, processing and cryopreservation of your cord blood for a fee.  An approximate cost of $2,000 for initial processing and a $125 per year for preservation will be charged.  Those who call on private cord blood banks are those who may need their own cord blood for future use.  This is in cases where the baby has a known genetic condition like leukemia, cancer, diabetes type 1 and other regenerative disorders that may require autologous transfusion.  Private cord blood banks operate as a profit oriented institution and thus fees are collected to sustain the business.

Stem cells used to be harvested from a donor’s bone marrow.  This is a very invasive procedure and therefore painful for the donor.  In addition to that, problems like graft-host incompatibilities arise.  Because the stem cells are already mature it is most often unaccepted by the system of the recipient.  Then there was the very controversial embryonic source of stem cells.  The growing fetus being rich with stem cells could be harmed in order to harvest them.  This faced a lot of pro-life ethical issues.  Research and studies on this have experienced a lot of setbacks until they discovered cord blood stem cells.

Umbilical cord is rich with stem cells.  Right after the umbilical cord is cut during delivery, the remaining blood in the cord which is rich in stem cells are collected.  The process of collection is not at all harmful to both baby and the mother.  In fact, the cord along with the placenta are most often treated as medical waste and a byproduct of delivery.  Cord blood stem cells are therefore free from any ethical issues and it is safe and easy to collect.  Not to mention that there’s enough volume to collect in one cord.

Cord blood stem cells are deposited to a cord blood bank where it will undergo several tests before it is cryopreserved.  The cord blood bank makes stem cells available for those who need stem cell transfusion.  They also make available stem cells for medical research and studies.  It is estimated that by the year 2015, there will be around 10,000 cord blood stem cell transfusions all over the world.  Thus, there is a need to furnish cord blood banks with enough deposits of cord blood stem cells.  There is a good number of cord blood banks being established throughout different states in America.  And a lot of information dissemination programs had been done to encourage donors.

Another pro in cord blood banking pros and cons is its very simple process of collection.  It can be done by the OB-GYN physician that is assisting the delivery.  A needle is inserted to the vein of the cord and remaining blood is collected through a catheter that is attached to the blood bag.  Once collected, the blood is brought to the cord blood bank for testing and cryopreservation.  Another advantage for your child is that there is an available stem cell for him or her if the time will come that he or she needs one.  This is in cases where the child will require an autologous transfusion. 

One disadvantage in the cord blood banking pros and cons is the cost of private blood banking.  Private blood banks require a substantial fee of around $2,000 for collection and testing.  And an annual fee of around $125 for cryopreservation.  This is due to the fact that private blood banks are profit oriented.  Despite that fact, you don’t have a choice if you intend for that cord blood to be used by your own baby in the future.  Donating cord blood through public cord blood banks should not cost you any amount.  But the donated cord blood will be available for use by just anybody who needs it.

These cord blood banking pros and cons are intended to educate us about cord blood banking.  The pros still outweighs the cons.  By all means, once we have a chance, we should be able to donate cord blood.  There are enumerable possibilities for this relatively new medical invention.  Everyone should take part as it may become a very important discovery for the future of medicine.

Prior to the discovery of stem cell availability in the umbilical cord blood, stem cells were being harvested through the bone marrow.  That process of harvesting is invasive and painful that it can pose a threat to the health condition of the donor.  Another problem is the increased possibility of host-graft incompatibilities.  Then there was a very controversial embryonic source of stem cell.  Stem cells were being harvested from a growing embryo causing harm to the growing fetus.  This has caused a lot of noise from the conservatives as it violates several pro-life ethical issues.  A lot of medical research projects on this had been on drawback due to ethical problems.

Then in 1988 the first umbilical cord blood transfusion took place.  The umbilical cord is found to be a rich source of stem cells.  Once the cord is cut during delivery of the baby, umbilical cord blood is collected.  This process of harvesting or collecting does not impose any harm to both baby and mother.  There are no ethical issues associated with this process.  Several medical research on this has been undertaken without any setbacks.  Research results have been showing a lot of promise for curing numerous diseases.  It could be the most important medical discovery of our time.

Another very important advantage of umbilical cord blood transfusion is that there are lesser chances of developing host vs. graft incompatibilities compared to bone marrow stem cells.  This is a very important milieu for accessibility of available cord blood to those who need it.  Fewer if not none at all problems related to incompatibilities is a concern.  It has been predicted that by the year 2015 there will be an average of 10,000 umbilical cord blood transfusions worldwide.

When a patient needs cord blood for transplantation and finds a match from a public cord blood bank, the blood will be subject to a release fee.  The cord blood banking cost that will be charged to the insurance will be on range of $30,000 – $50,000 depending on the facility.  This is how public cord blood banks get return for their operational expenses.  The units of blood in public cord blood banks are also being utilized for research purposes. We have to remember that these public cord blood banks are non-profit oriented organizations.

On the other hand, if the donor will choose a private cord blood bank it is for the reason that they have foreseen the need to withdraw the blood for the use of the baby.  It could be due to known regenerative disease in the family like leukemia and diabetes type 1 that would require an autologous transfusion.  A private cord blood bank will require a substantial amount for the collection, processing and testing of blood and cryopreservation.  The cord blood banking cost for private cord blood bank is approximately $2,000 on collection and $125 per year for preservation.  We have to take note that private cord blood banks are operating for profit purposes.

Both private and public cord blood banks claim that they incur operational expenses that are substantial.  It is necessary in order to facilitate appropriate testing of the blood.  Examples of necessary blood testing are tests for Hepatitis B, HIV, ABO and Rh typing, HLA class 1, aerobic and anaerobic bacteria culture.  The mentioned blood testing is costly.  Aside from testing, both cord blood banks incur expenses for cryopreservation, collection and operational aspects.  These things are considered in the computation of cord blood banking cost.

The umbilical cord of a new born baby after it has been cut is rich in stem cells.  The remaining blood is harvested and collected.  The blood is sent to a cord blood bank where it will be processed and preserved for future use.  Cord blood banking was officially set up by NHS in 1996.  Cord blood banking facilitates the process of collecting, blood processing, preserving and distribution of cord blood.  At present, there has been several cord blood banks that have been established in almost all states in the US and all over the UK.  This has been due to the encouragement of both government and medical sectors and because of the benefits it can provide for the future of medicine.

There are actually two types of cord blood banking.  We have the public and the private.  The donor may choose to donate the cord blood to a public cord blood bank without any amount charged to them.  The process of collection and preservation is free but the blood will be available to the general public.  When the donor chooses a private cord blood bank, the donated blood is specifically available for the donor or relatives.  But the private blood bank charges a substantial amount for collection, processing and preservation.

It has been predicted that by the year 2015 there will be an average of 10,000 cord blood transplantation per year worldwide.  This will be through the resources of the public cord blood banks.  That is why both government and private agencies are encouraging wider repository activities in all states through public cord blood banking.  There has also been a lot of information dissemination being done on the advantages of cord blood banking in order to encourage pregnant women to volunteer.