Why does cord blood work

There are two types of cord blood banking: public and private. Here are the key differences between them. Public cord blood banks are usually nonprofit companies that store your donated cord blood for free.

There's a greater chance that your cord blood will be used because it could be given to any child or adult in need, says William T. Shearer, M. Cord blood is donated and put on a national registry, to be made available for any transplant patient. So if your child should need the cord blood later in life, there's no guarantee you would be able to get it back. It's completely free to donate blood to a public cord blood bank.

Private cord blood banks are companies that require a registration fee plus annual storage fees for your cord blood, but it's saved specifically for your own family, so you'll have ready access to it.

This could potentially eliminate the need to search for an unrelated donor through the national registry of potential donors. These rates can vary widely. Private cord blood banking makes the most sense in families with children who have diseases that might be corrected with transplantation, says Joanne Kurtzberg, M.

An example would be another child in the family with leukemia, sickle-cell anemia, or an immune deficiency. In a family where everyone's healthy, there's no evidence that it will be useful.

You must decide before the birth if you want to donate cord blood. In fact, the AAP says it should be arranged by the 34th week of pregnancy. If you choose to bank, the cord blood will be collected in the hospital almost immediately after you give birth—ideally before you deliver the placenta.

The bank will send you a collection kit before your due date; your doctor, midwife, or a nurse uses this to collect the blood. Blood is drawn from the cord with a needle that has a bag attached.

Next, a courier sent by the bank typically comes to the hospital to pick up the kit and take it to the bank, where it's processed and stored in a bag or vial that's frozen in liquid nitrogen. There is no risk to the mother or baby in collecting the cord blood cells, which would otherwise be discarded. Some hospitals don't accept public donations; the AAP recommends checking whether yours does on the Be the Match list , as well as the guide to USA Donation Hospitals compiled by Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to educating parents about cord blood donation and cord blood therapists.

If your hospital doesn't collect donations, you can contact a lab that offers a mail-in delivery program. After you've passed the lab's screening process, they'll send you a kit that you can use to package your blood and mail it in, explains Frances Verter, Ph. While some families see security in banking their own members' cord blood for an emergency, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises against it , instead encouraging families to donate to public banks for people in need.

It is not known how likely a child is to need a transplant of his or her own cells, but experts say the chances are very small. One reason why donations to public cord banks are so valuable is that stem cells from cord blood do not need to be as perfectly matched for a transplant as do stem cells from adult bone marrow. Stem cells from cord blood are not as mature, so the transplant patient's body is much less likely to reject them. It costs money to store your baby's cord blood.

Then you must pay yearly storage fees for as long as the blood is stored. Health plans usually do not cover these costs. Only you can decide if the cost makes sense for you and your family. Doctors worry that the advertising done by private cord blood banks may make some parents feel guilty if they do not want or cannot pay to store their baby's cord blood.

Pregnancy and childbirth are emotional times, so learn all you can ahead of time. If you bank or donate your baby's cord blood, it will be tested for genetic and infectious diseases. What you learn from a genetic test can affect your life and that of your family in many ways.

Private banking: If you decide to bank your baby's cord blood, make sure that the blood bank you use follows standardized guidelines for tissue and stem cell collection and storage. Look for a bank that has tested and stored many cord blood samples and whose samples have been used successfully in transplants.

Ask for a copy of the bank's policies and procedures. Public banking: You may decide that you would like to donate your baby's cord blood. Donating makes the stem cells available to others. It does not cost anything. Unfortunately, it is not yet an option in many communities. Call the hospital where you plan to give birth to find out if you can donate cord blood there.

These stories are based on information gathered from health professionals and consumers. They may be helpful as you make important health decisions.

When we were expecting, we were swamped with promotions about cord blood banking. They said it was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to do something that could save our child's life. It made us feel guilty. Then the doctor told us the odds of our child needing his own cord blood were almost zero. So we decided banking the cord blood would not be a smart use of our money. Our 2-year-old daughter has leukemia. She will need a stem cell transplant.

We have contacted a cord blood bank and are going to have our newborn's cord blood saved and, hopefully, used to save our toddler's life. I did not want to pay to save my baby's cord blood. But I was bothered by the thought of those good stem cells going to waste.

So I contacted a public blood bank in my community, and they collected the cord blood so that someone else can use the stem cells in the future. I liked the idea of donating my baby's cord blood to a public blood bank in case someone else needed it. But I have so many other things to do before my baby is born that I wasn't sure I had time to deal with making the arrangements. As it turns out, cord blood banking isn't available in our small community. That made the decision not to do it easy.

Your personal feelings are just as important as the medical facts. Think about what matters most to you in this decision, and show how you feel about the following statements. I think putting the cord blood in a private bank would be worth the cost. I have a young family member who will probably need a stem cell transplant in the future. No one in my family has an illness that would need stem cells for treatment. I will donate the cord blood to a public cord bank if I can, because I'll feel better if the stem cells don't go to waste.

I like the idea of banking the cord blood for the future, "just in case. I'm not worried about the really small chance that my child might need his or her own stem cells. We plan to have more children, and leukemia, Hodgkin's, or sickle cell disease runs in our family. Now that you've thought about the facts and your feelings, you may have a general idea of where you stand on this decision.

Read more about our cookies. Hi there, we see you're using OS , why not try our app? Skip to main content. Home What is cord blood? How is it used? Register to donate. Coronavirus update Following the suspension of our cord blood collection services we have now re-opened our collection sites, with the exception of Royal Free London - Barnet.

Most of us would have little use for stem cells now, but research into using them to treat diseases is ongoing — and the future looks promising. If you want to donate your child's umbilical cord blood, talk to your health care provider or contact the hospital or birthing center where your baby will be born. It's best to start the process early in your pregnancy so you have time to explore and understand your options.

Cord Blood Banking. Note: All information is for educational purposes only.