Umbilical Cord Blood Donations Can Save Lives
If you donate cord blood you are not donating the mother’s blood, you are donating the baby’s blood that has been left behind in the umbilical cord after birth. Umbilical cord blood is full of stem cells, those little cells that has the science community going mad. Why? Stem cells are the basic building blocks of our bodies.
Stem cell technology is being trialled on people with spinal cord damage and various cancers such as leukemia. One day they hope to be able to take stem cells and grow new organs like a liver or heart. The best stem cells to use are those taken from a new born baby’s umbilical cord. This is why umbilical cord blood donations are important
A syringe is generally used to collect donated cord blood after the cord has been cut. Some midwives simply squeeze the blood from the cord. Collecting donated cord blood is better than just throwing the umbilical cord and the umbilical cord blood out. After collection, the donated cord blood is stored and then sent away to have the stem cells harvested.
You have two options for cord blood collection. You can donate the cord blood where it is stored and used for research or treatment. The most common treatment juvenile leukemia where it has a high success rate.
The second option is to have the cord blood stem cells ‘banked’ for possible future use by your family, and in particular, your baby. There is nothing purer than the baby’s own cord blood stem cells if he or she should become sick. Collection will cost around $2000 with an annual fee of around $100. If your child should ever become sick, this will be small price to pay to save their life.
Science has looked upon cord blood stem cells as one of the holly grails of science. The ability to repair spinal problems and restore movement to para/quadriplegics has received a huge push due to recent progress in research. There are already 70 known diseases that can be cured using cord blood stem cells – the biggest problem has been the lack of cord blood donations. It is estimated that cord blood is collected in only one in five hundred births – the remaining four hundred and ninety-nine births have their umbilical cords thrown away.
You can help to increase the amount of cord blood collected by using the service and donating cord blood after your child has been born. Ask the hospital or midwife if they collect cord blood. There are many agencies that will collect the cord blood, either for public cord blood banking, or, for your own personal use at a later time.
The more people who donate cord blood, particularly for research, the more likely it is that science will find ways to cure diseases such as juvenile diabetes, brain injuries and spinal column injuries. Why waste a valuable resource by throwing it into a hospital incinerator when it could be used to save lives. The umbilical cord – who would have thought that cord blood stem cells could do so much? If you know someone who is pregnant, get them to donate cord blood.