Pregnancy comes with a lot of questions and one of the things that pregnant women worry about is how to protect her baby’s future. The answer to this could rest in innovation of stem cells and cord blood banking. Stem cell therapy is a ground-breaking advancement in medical science. As per WHO, stem cells are annually saving the lives of over 50,000 patients across the globe, significantly reducing their burdens and improving the quality of life.

What is cord blood banking?

The blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta, post-delivery, is called Umbilical cord blood or cord blood. Cord blood banking is an important factor in the growth and promotion of stem cell therapy. Stem cells have great potential to save lives, they are the main cell from which all other specified cells are made. These stem cells are unique in their ability to transform into blood cells, brain cells, muscle cells, bone cells and so on. The umbilical cord fluid is full of stem cells. The fluid is easy to collect and has ten times more stem cells than bone marrow.

During the 1990's the umbilical cord and its blood were considered as medical waste. But today, parents store their baby's umbilical cord blood because it contains the stem cells that show promise in the treatment of life-threatening diseases.

Ideal time to think about cord blood banking

Third trimester of pregnancy is the ideal time to start finding out and learning about cord blood banking. The first step is doing the research on bank practices. Second is preparing to collect the blood. For this you will need to talk to your doctors and medical providers and list this in your birth plan. You should speak to your doctor between 28 and 34 weeks of pregnancy about your plan to store your cord blood.

Cord blood can treat approximately 80 diseases, and its treatments have been performed more than 35,000 times around the globe to treat cancers, anaemias, inherited metabolic disorders, tumours and orthopaedic repair.

A boon for the whole family

Storing cord blood can have many benefits to you and your family. Since the cells in cord blood haven't been exposed to any harmful factors, saving the pristine cells after your baby is born could prove to be an invaluable medical resource for your family in the future. For the baby, the stem cell taken from cord blood cells is always a perfect match. Moreover, close family members are also likely to be a match. Siblings have a 25% chance of being a perfect match and a 50% chance of being a partial match. Parents have a 100% chance of being a partial match. Even extended family members like grandparents, aunts and uncles have a higher probability of being a match and could possibly benefit from the banked cord blood.

A process that is simple and efficient

Banking cord blood is a relatively simple process. At Biocell, expecting mothers first E-meet our account managers who guide them through the enrolment process. Upon enrolment, a kit is sent. This kit is then collected at the hospital post-delivery and sent to Biocell Cell Processing Centre. The family receives a Certification of Cryopreservation mentioning details of stem cells. Upon retrieval, a transplant specialist will assess the medical condition and prescribe a suitable transplantation procedure.

For expecting mothers there couldn’t be a simpler way to safeguard their baby and families lives than cord blood banking. Today's newest research and development efforts are even allowing scientists and bioprocess engineers to expand, differentiate and even genetically modify these cells to develop customised treatments for common and rare diseases.

Biocell is India's leading Umbilical Cord Blood Bank committed to preserving life-saving stem cells for your family's health needs. When you choose Biocell you get a complete solution, ranging from safe collection of the cord blood to testing and analysis and finally secure banking to ensure that the stem cells are available for therapeutic treatments as and when needed.