Cord Blood Donation: The Life Saving Act

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Pharmeceutical-Medical )



STEM CELLS

Cord blood is the blood that remains in the baby’s umbilical cord after the cord has been severed from both the mother and the baby. The cut umbilical cord and the cord blood inside were once considered medical waste and were just discarded.

However, recent scientific findings have shown that cord blood is very rich in undifferentiated stem cells. These stem cells are the progeny of all cells and tissues in the body. Being very rich in stem cells, cord blood can be harvested and injected into people with life-threatening illnesses. Once inside the body, the stem cells can form into any specific body cells and tissues that the person needs.

BANKING AND DONATION

Given the medical value of cord blood, cord blood banking and cord blood donation are slowly gaining foothold in our medical system. Saving cord blood and storing them has become an option for mother’s who are about to give birth.

Umbilical cord blood banking is the harvesting of your baby’s cord blood upon birth. There is no pain or discomfort on the baby’s end when this is done because the umbilical cord has already been cut before the blood is taken.

What would normally have been thrown away is collected and stored in cord blood banks until a need for them arises. In cord blood banking or cord blood banking, the cord blood is kept in a freezer for an indefinite period of time until you or your loved ones would have a need for it. Cord blood banking is not free of charge; you have to pay for the harvesting and storage costs.

Cord blood donation on the other hand involves the same process of harvesting the blood at birth. However, cord blood donation is done for a different purpose. Cord blood donation is performed so that the collected cord blood can be used by someone who needs them at that moment and will not be saved for your family’s use. Similar to organ and bone marrow donation, cord blood donation is an act that is meant to save a life.


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