What is Umbilical Cord Blood Banking?

You must have heard about blood transfusion, but little about umbilical cord preservation that has become routine in many parts of the world. The switch to umbilical cord blood banking arose after the bone marrow transfers were not able to serve a larger population base while there was also a greater chance of diseases during transfusion. It is usually seen that bone marrow donors were not available and even if they did, there were very few that matched the blood of patients.

With the revolution in stem cell technology it was found that stem cells found in the umbilical cord of the mother to child were a better source than bone marrow. With this, the idea of cord blood storage started and now in most developed countries, you have a bank where such blood is stored for future purposes.

Safety of Transfusions of Blood

It is generally understood that a matching blood has to be pure of diseases and allergens. Further, the donor matching is a very important requirement. In order to meet the growing demand for blood for patients suffering from diseases and injuries, the banking cord blood became an option among the donors as well as patients.

Unlike the bone marrow transfers that contain several associated risks, the cord stem cells are by and large quite 'immature'. This means that the child has a brand new form of cord blood and this has not been in contact with any diseases. This also means that an exact match for the blood is not necessary as the same gets adapted quickly and effortlessly.

Hence, the stem cell banking although a new phenomenon is fast catching up in the medical world.

Freely Available

The umbilical cord blood storage has in numerous donors from parents during childbirth. The placenta and the cord are usually discarded in the end. However, due to the breakthrough in technology, the cord blood can be easily stored for future use for the treatment of more than 80 life-threatening diseases.