Cord Blood Donations

How to Donate Cord Blood for Research

Within the blood of your newborn's umbilical cord and placenta are stem cells. Banking this cord blood can allow for future use as an alternative to bone marrow transplants, the treatment of some cancers, immunodeficiencies, metabolic disorders...

Are There Any Risks to Donating Cord Blood?

Donating your baby's cord blood to a public cord blood bank can save the life of a child in need. The stem cells in the cord blood can treat a large number of life-threatening illnesses. Occasionally, small or young adults can use these stem cells...

How Do Cord Blood Banks Work?

When expectant parents decide to save their infant's cord blood, they need to make arrangements, in advance, with the hospital and the cord bank. The cord bank provides the parents with the necessary collection equipment and send a courier to...

How to Save Cord Blood After Birth

Cord blood is blood that is collected from the umbilical cord and the placenta soon after a baby is born. It contains stem cells that are similar to those found in bone marrow. Cord blood can be used to treat patients who have had chemotherapy or...

Cord Blood Procedures

Once expectant parents decide to save or donate their baby's cord blood, many are at a loss of what to do next. Although the process of saving or donating cord blood varies, some general procedures are common.

Pros & Cons of Saving Cord Blood

Cord blood, found in the umbilical cord, contains stem cells that can develop into red or white blood cells, platelets or other cell types in the body. Expecting parents are encouraged to save their baby's cord blood so that these stem cells can...

Umbilical Cords in Pregnant Women

During pregnancy, the umbilical cord develops into a flexible tube that functions as a supply line between the fetus and mother. The umbilical cord moves blood back and forth between the fetus and the placenta, which is connected to the mother's...

How to Bank Umbilical Cord Blood

Imagine you are in the labor and deliver ward of your local hospital. Contractions are severe and you eventually push a baby out with all your strength. As the doctor lays the baby on your chest, your husband cuts the umbilical cord. Instead of...

What Is Private Family Cord Blood Banking?

Private cord blood banking allows parents to store blood from a baby's umbilical cord and placenta for future use. Cord blood contains primitive stem cells that are capable of developing into several types of mature cells, according to the Kids...

About Cord Blood Banking

Expectant parents often hear about cord blood banking at some point during the pregnancy, but many are unsure exactly what it entails or if it is worth it. Cord blood banking has many advantages, but parents need to consider many factors before...

How To Preserve Cord Blood

Cord blood is normally discarded after a baby is born. This blood is found inside the umbilical cord that connected mother and baby during pregnancy. Preserving the blood has many potential benefits for the family or for a recipient if the blood...

Disadvantages of Saving Umbilical Cord Blood

Private cord blood banks tout the potential advantages of saving cord blood banking to expectant parents, but often skip over the disadvantages of doing so. While the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Congress of Obstetricians and...

Cord Blood Cell Benefits

Cord blood cells are a form of stem cells which can be extracted from the blood in the umbilical cord of a newborn infant. These cells, like other types of blood stem cells, can be used to treat patients with certain kinds of blood and bone...

Who Should Consider Banking Their Child's Cord Blood?

The umbilical cord and placenta were your baby's source of nourishment during pregnancy. After birth, the blood in the cord and placenta are typically discarded. It is possible to collect and store this blood in a cord bank for later use by a...

What Will Happen to My Baby's Cord Blood After It's Collected?

When a baby is born, more than one precious thing enters the world. It has been found that the blood in the umbilical cord and placenta has special medical uses. Parents may choose to have the cord blood harvested. They may want the blood reserved...

Pros & Cons of Cord Blood Storage

Cord blood is stem cell rich blood collected from the umbilical cord after delivery. Because stem cells can grow into many different types of cells, including blood cells, banked cord blood can be used to treat some cancers, anemia and genetic...

Stem Cells & Newborn Babies

Stem cells are specialized cells that can transform into almost any kind of cell in the body. This potential to turn into other cells holds the promise of repairing damage to organs caused by injury or disease. Embryos contain the most versatile...