Cord blood of your newborn is one of the richest sources of stem cells. This is the blood contained in the umbilical cord and placenta at the time of the birth of the baby.
Before the development of medical science towards development of treatments using stem cells, the blood along with the placenta, were traditionally disposed of as biological waste. Nowadays, however, for a number of serious diseases methods of therapy based entirely on the application of stem cells exist and are continuously evolving. Such are many types of anemias, leukemia, some types of cancer. Stem cells also help people with compromised immune systems. One of their future applications could be regeneration and transplants of organs.
Storage of stem cells is done in several different ways. On one hand, the family could decide to donate cells for the benefit of society – into a public bank. In this case it could be useful to all those in need when there’s a suitable match. However, you have no guarantee that if necessary you can use the same blood when needed. Another option is to store the stem cells from your child in so-called family banks – where it is stored in the child’s name and can only be released in his favor or for treating his close relatives.
