Umbilical cord storage may
save your child's life.

Protecting the welfare of your child.

Every parent wants to do as much as possible to protect the lives of their children from before the day they are born and through the use of umbilical cord storage this may be even more achievable than ever before. Umbilical cord blood contains potent stem cells that have yet to develop into any other form of cell, organ or tissue and this makes them very useful in the fight against various diseases.

Throwing away useful resources.

The umbilical cord and placenta have previously been tossed away into the trash because they have served no purpose once a baby is born, however, recent study and research has shown that they can provide an invaluable service in many cases.

When a child is born and takes his or her first breaths the umbilical cord is tied or clamped and then cut. Soon after the placenta, or afterbirth, is delivered. Both the cord and the placenta are usually disposed of because their usefulness has been served. However, stem cell research has unturned an incredible use for both. Stem cells are the beginning of all cells, organs and tissue in the human body and with time they will transform into various other cells as and when the body requires them.

The journey of a stem cell.

In adults, stem cells have already begun or completed this transition and bone marrow has proved to be the only useful source of stem cells. Even bone marrow stem cells have begun their transformation into specialist blood cells and so can only be used to treat and cure diseases that require new, healthy blood cells.

The potential uses of stem cells.

The stem cells found in embryos, umbilical cords, placenta and even baby teeth have not yet begun their transformation and so under the right conditions and given the correct stimuli they can be 'programmed' to form into virtually anything the human body requires. At present stem cells are used to treat leukemia, anemia and 40 other life threatening diseases but continuous testing on animals and the use of computer modeling has shown that the possibilities are far more than just these diseases.

Congenital Heart Failure, Diabetes, Parkinson's, various forms of Cancer and many other diseases could potentially be beaten with the transfusion of stem cells into the human body. Imagine the potential of using stem cells to combat any degenerative disease and you'll soon realize the potential that stem cell research is having.

About umbilical cord storage.

Umbilical cord storage is one area that has already undergone vast amounts of research and the technology exists, through the use of cryogenic storage, to keep umbilical cord and placental blood for up to 15 years. After this time it is not truly known whether the blood will retain it's potency but further research will help to prove or disprove the theory that it can usefully be kept for much longer periods. If this does turn out to be the case then the possibilities will improve even further. At present many of the potential uses ten to occur later in life, and so the use of your own cord blood becomes ineffective but if cord blood can be kept for decades then this will no longer be the case.

The costs of umbilical cord storage.

Cord blood storage could save your child's life. The cost of storing cord blood is usually broken down into the initial payment including extraction, admin and the first 12 months storage followed by annual storage payments. You should expect to pay $1500 initially followed by 15 $100 payments. If you can pay up front for the whole thing then you can save as much as $500. If you already have a child in need of a stem cell transplant then you should bear in mind that there is a 25% chance that the cord blood from your newborn will be a match. If this is the case then consult a pediatrician or local hospital.

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