When you are expecting your baby, there are so many things that need to planned well in advanced for the baby healthy and happy life. One such, in fact, the most important thing that expectant parents should plan about is preserving their baby’s umbilical cord blood; umbilical cord is the cord which connects the baby to the mother in the womb. In earlier times, the umbilical cord used to be thrown away at the time of birth, but now, many parents are aware, and they preserve their baby’s cord blood. Thus, pregnancy is the time when you should plan and preserve your baby’s cord blood. Read on to understand why you should opt for cord blood stem cell storage store.

What Can It Be Used For?

The umbilical cord blood is loaded with stem cells. These stem cells have the regenerative capabilities and can treat life-threatening diseases such as cancer, blood diseases like anaemia, and some of the immune system disorders, which disrupt the ability of the human body to defend it.

The most significant reason to preserve stem during a child’s birth is it is easy to collect and has about ten times more stem cells than those collected from the bone marrow. Also, these stem cells rarely carry any infectious diseases, and they are half as likely to be rejected as the adult stem cells.

Benefits of Saving Cord Blood

There are a lot of reasons why you should opt for cord blood stem cell storage; some of the most significant ones are:

Guaranteed match for autologous transplants

Autologous transplant is basically where the donor & recipient of the stem cells is the same individual, and you may need a hematopoietic stem cell (HSCs) transplant by the age of 70. So, the cord blood that you are preserving for your baby today is actually a potential medical resource for the future, and it does not require stringent matching as compared to the conventional bone marrow stem cell transplants. As per studies, about 70% of the patients who need a transplant are not able to find a suitable match within their family. Thus, it is better to preserve stem cells from the cord blood.

A readily available supply of preserved Hematopoietic Stem Cells(HSCs)

The life-threatening disease is already the time-critical situation, and when you need stem cells for their treatment, it is better to have your own child’s stem cells. As these preserved stem cells (that are rich in Hematopoietic Stem Cells) are readily available and thus you don’t have to do a national or an international search which is both costly and time-consuming.

Lower risk of Graft vs Host Disease for autologous transplants

Graft vs Host Disease is basically a common complication where the transplanted tissue attacks the own tissues of the patient. These diseases usually occur in those transplants where the donor and recipient are different. So when you use your own child’s stem cells for transplants, there are very fewer chances of such deliveries.

Ease of collection

The process of extraction and preservation of stem cells from the umbilical cord is pain-free & risk-free for both the mother and the child.

Collection of cord blood is a relatively easy task, which is handled typically handled by your delivering doctor (OBGYN). This process does not affect the process of giving birth in any way and can be done on both natural and C-section deliveries.

Cord blood stem cells are younger & more primitive

Comparing to the other types of stem cells that are obtained from other sources such as bone marrow and peripheral blood, umbilical cord blood stem cells are capable of growing into healthy blood stem cells at a faster rate.