More and more families are choosing to collect and store their baby’s cord blood all the time. Just ten or twenty years ago people would have thought it odd it collect and store umbilical cord blood, but today it’s common for parents to know about cord blood collection. Parents are learning all the time what value cord blood has, that stem cells can literally save or change the life of their child or another family member later in life. Collecting and storing cord blood is thinking ahead and making sure that you are prepared for the future, whatever it may bring.
Cord blood contains stem cells, and stem cells are not just your average, every day cells, they have the ability to heal and repair damaged bodies due to accidents or illness. Stem cells can be transplanted into the body of someone suffering from damaged body parts due to an accident or illness. The best source of stem cells are those that come from the umbilical cord, so why not collect and save it in case it is needed later in life.
Many parents are given information about cord blood collection and storage during pregnancy and decide it’s something that they need to do. Every family has a personal reason for proceeding with the cord blood collection and storage, but there are a few common reasons.
· Many families choose to have cord blood collected and stored because they know the hope and future of stem cells and would like to have them available if someone in their family has a need.
· Families may choose to have cord blood collected and stored because they know before birth that their child may require medical care and stem cells may benefit their child in the future.
· A good portion of families simply like the security of having the cord blood saved because no one can predict injury or illness, and stem cells may very well be able to help in those circumstances in the future.
Families are choosing to have their child’s cord blood collected and stored because it just makes sense. While the collection and storage process can be quite expensive, it’s not nearly as expensive as living with a life that is less than what it should be because of an illness or injury that could be repaired by stem cells. Having your own stem cells stored is a form of protection, a type of protection that will only get more advanced in the future. One in 2,700 families use their cord blood and yours could be that one family. Why take the risk of not having it available or relying on doctors to find other sources? Cord blood collection just makes sense.
