How Popular is Cord Blood Banking?

How Popular is Cord Blood Banking?

If you’re pregnant or have had a baby within the past decade, you have likely read all of the advertisements encouraging storing your baby’s umbilical cord blood in public and private banks as an insurance policy against future disease and illness. And like some parents, you probably passed up the opportunity. While cord blood banking has proven its worth in the health and science fields, parents are sometimes likely to pass than to jump on the chance to bank their baby’s cord blood.

Why? More than 90% of families do not have access to a public cord blood bank and private banks are costly. Other factors may affect the ability of parents to bank their baby’s cord blood. Families with risk factors such as maternal exposure to viruses, tattoos, and recent international travel may find that their donations are not accepted by public banks. In fact, only 30% of donated cord blood actually ends up in a bank due to eligibility requirements.

This is unfortunate because the benefits of cord blood banking are real and evident. The following statistics will show you just how important cord blood banking and stem cell research are for the future:

• Thousands of stem cell transplants are performed every year to treat diseases such as lymphoma, myeloma, leukemia and tumors.
• Some reports say there is a 1 in 200 chance that your baby or another family member will benefit from banking your baby’s blood.
• Cancer research is dependent on an abundant supply of stem cells. It is here that a cure for cancer may be found.
• One in 630 children will be diagnosed with cancer before they reach the age of fifteen.
• Cancer rates continue to rise and there is no end in sight.

Cord blood banking offers hope for families facing cancer and other diseases. While most families do not underestimate the benefits of cord blood banking, they may fail to bank their baby’s blood because they lack the resources to do so. In fact, many donations are turned away because blood banks are at their maximum capacity. Private banks are an option, but many families feel they cannot afford this expense.

To fix this problem, more funding is needed to expand cord blood banking resources. As research and funding expands, there will likely be more uses found for cord blood. There are already studies that show that stem cells can be used to grow neural tissue which can repair brain damage. This is very exciting news for the medical community and for those facing these and other life altering illnesses.