Every women delivering her baby has the choice to save her baby’s cord blood. The cord blood contains the body’s master cells and has the potential to treat 80 serious diseases. In fact, more than 20,000 blood cord transplants have been completed to date, a number that tripled over the last 5 years.
Saving the cord blood can help reduce the risk and uncertainty from future immune deficiencies and blood disorders. Talk with your doctor about saving your baby’s blood cord, which is a safe procedure and harmless for both mom and baby.
Why might you choose to save the cord blood stem cells?
Cord blood stem cells create new healthy blood and immune system for individuals with cancer who have completed chemotherapy and radiation. It can correct genetic immune deficiencies and blood disorders as well. Should your child or his/her sibling need a stem cell transplant, a 75% survival rate for matching siblings and 100% due to a perfect genetic match has been experienced, compared to 54% for unrelated cord blood. Emerging treatment options in regenerative medicine which repairs cells and tissue include Type 1 Diabetes and Cerebral Palsy. As science advances there may be other diseases that may be treated with cord blood transplant.
How do I save the cord blood?
There are three options to consider. The first is to discard it, next is to donate it to a cord blood donation bank, and finally you can choose to save it for family in family bank. There are both public and private banks. To date, scientific data shows cord blood is still viable after 23 years. It could be indefinitely.
The physicians at Women’s Health and Menopause Center encourage you to learn more at ViaCord. Then, have a conversation with your family and doctor about your decision.
