Perhaps the first thing that a person should understand about the use of umbilical cord blood stem cells is that this use is not the same as the controversial issue of using embryonic stem cells. Whereas some argue that embryonic stem cell research is unethical or immoral, there are no such arguments being made about umbilical cord blood stem cells.
The reason is because this blood is drawn from the umbilical cord only after the baby has been born and the cord has been detached. Neither the baby nor the mother is at any risk at all.
There are essentially three choices to be made in regard to the storage of umbilical cord blood. The first choice is if a person will authorize the blood to be taken from the cord or not. The legalities are still unclear, but most hospitals will not extract the blood from the cords without the consent of the birth mother.
If a mother does decide to have the blood extracted, she must next decide if she should bank the blood or donate it. Those who bank the blood do so in hopes that the blood may some day be used to help provide a cure to the baby at some future point or to siblings or parents of the newborn.
There is no guarantee the blood will match the cells that could be used to help treat issues such as leukemia and liver failure in family members, but there is a possibility.
If a mother does bank the blood, she will be responsible to pay fees to private blood bank to maintain the blood until (and if) the time comes when the blood is needed for treatment. For those who don’t have the money and cannot raise it, public banks are also on the rise.
Others choose not to bank the blood, but instead donate it. In these cases, there are no fees charged. A group with which the hospital has likely contracted will be called in to collect and store the blood. There is no charge for this service. Many experts encourage people to donate the blood instead of banking it because the likelihood of a child or a family member being able to use the blood stem cells some day remains a slim possibility, while there is a larger possibility the blood could be useful for somebody somewhere in the world who is on a donor list.
Although the use of cord blood stem cells in treating diseases is still a relatively new practice, there are documented cases where the stem cells have been proven to be helpful.
There have been cases where the cells have shown they can assist in curing red blood cell diseases like Fanconi anemia, white blood cell diseases like SCID, cancers like leukemia and neuroblastoma and repair tissue in organs like the heart.
There is still a lot of research that needs to be done. This is why most researchers exhort families to donate the stem cells so legal and ethical research and case studies can be performed.
Of course, a person should not donate simply because researchers are calling for it. Likewise, a mother need not donate stem cells simply because a blood bank has made her feel guilty.
There are many decisions that need to be made when umbilical cord blood is collected. The best way for a mother to make the proper choice for herself and her family is to understand all of the issues associated with this topic and decide what seems like the best path to take.
For more in-depth information on this subject, be sure to visit all our informational and useful pages. To learn even more about the science surrounding this matter, there are plenty of resources:
CordBlood.org: http://www.cord-blood.org/
Blood Cord Experiences:
http://www.babycenter.com/400_should-i-bank-my-babys-cord-blood_500601_1000.bcNational Marrow Donation Program: http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood_Share_Life/Cord_Blood_Donation_FAQs/index.html
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