Like may expectant parents, you make a checklist before your little one
enters the world. You decorate the nursery, stock the closet and buy
the car seat.
Some parents are now including discussions on cord blood banking on the
list. Umbilical cord blood is human blood from the placenta and
umbilical cord that is rich in hematopoietic stem cells. It can be
collected and used as a source of stem cells for transplantation.
“Cord blood can treat any disease you would consider a bone marrow
transplant for,” says Charles Peters, MD, director of the Blood and
Marrow Transplant Program at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and
Clinics. “We can use it to treat leukemia, sickle cell disease,
aplastic anemia and ALD, just to name a few.”
Parents can decide to bank their child’s blood privately for his own
future use or for a family member should the need arise, or store her
cord blood publicly and make it available to anyone in need of a
transplant or for research purposes.
The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages cord blood be stored for
public use. It recommends parents only bank privately if they have an
older child with a condition such as leukemia or certain genetic
diseases that could benefit.
“It’s important for parents to understand unless you are well aware of
a genetic disease that runs in your family, there are no practical
reasons to bank the cord blood privately,” says Dr. Peters. “Saving the
cord blood for many decades isn’t a viable decision either because we
don’t know how long the cord blood can be useful for. It’s better
served to think of the need in the next 10 years.”
If you’re thinking about cord blood banking, AAP says:
- Consult with your physician to help make an informed
decision.
- Find out if the hospital you are delivering at is affiliated
with a cord blood bank.
- Notify the cord blood bank four to six weeks before your due
date.
If you decide to use a private cord blood bank, AAP recommends:
- Institutional Review Board approved protocol should be in
place, including annual disclosures of financial interest and potential
conflicts of interest.
- It should have an informed consent process in place and require
the parent to sign an informed consent.
- It should comply with national accreditation standards
developed by the Foundation for Accreditation Cellular Therapy, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade
Commission.
