Any US woman starts receiving pamphlets and fliers about storing the umbilical cord blood of the child when she is barely three months pregnant. Public awareness in this regard has reached a level mature enough to make many of the parents understand the importance of storing or donating the cord blood of their newborn. Their decision matters because the cord blood stem cells hold the potential to act as a hedge against illnesses such as certain cancers among others.
There still remains a vast majority of parents who don’t do anything and the cord blood stem cells go waste. Rest of them become caught up in the debate whether they should go for private cord blood storage firms or donate the same to public registries. The options for public banking, however, are rare and even when the donations are made; half of the samples go waste because of insufficient amount of stem cells presence. The cord blood companies present themselves as an additional option in the face of an uncertain future. They help the families make an important and informed decision.
The cord blood collected is a rich source of stem cells, which is unique for the newborn baby and his or her family. You can call the stem cells as the master cells of the body, which can turn themselves into any kind of human cell or tissue. The private cord blood banks store and preserve the cord blood so that the same can be used at a later date for the child or any other family member. The family members may, however, choose to donate the cord blood to any public bank where it will be available for use by general public. The popularity of private banks is increasing day by day among the people though the medical community seems to be more in support of the public cord blood banks.

A growing number of ingenious gift givers have discovered a special kind of present for new babies and their families.
It’s a contribution to help them collect and store the newborn stem cells in their baby’s umbilical cord blood. Banked cord blood provides a unique opportunity to protect that child or another family member’s future health. It’s one of the most valuable gifts anyone can give. Doctors use the newborn stem cells in cord blood to treat over 75 serious illnesses, such as leukemia, sickle-cell anemia, and other serious blood and immune disorders. As medical research evolves, so will stem cell therapies, with new treatments expected for heart disease, diabetes, brain damage, cerebral palsy, stroke, and other age-related conditions, offering families more and more uses for banked cord blood. Currently, scientists believe, stem cells similar to those found in cord blood can develop into replacement cells for damaged organs. Clinical trials recently revealed that stem cells can heal heart tissue damaged after a heart attack or repair damaged areas of the liver. Unlocking that amazing potential could generate new therapies for diseases only treated with traditional medical therapies in the past.
Newborn stem cells derived from cord blood are a noncontroversial source of stem cells. They only come from a live birth, have similar characteristics to embryonic stem cells, and are currently emerging as a viable research alternative to embryonic cells. Newborn stem cells are easy to obtain and immediately available if needed. They are unique because they do not have to match the recipient as closely as bone marrow, offer less chance of being rejected, and can be used by siblings, the child’s mother and other relatives, in many circumstances where bone marrow cells cannot. There is, however, only one opportunity with each child to collect and store cord blood-right after birth. The procedure is quick, easy, painless, and completely safe for mother and baby.

Our negligence during pregnancy period may lead us to dangerous consequences. Hence, it is important to be cautious because it is not only the question of expectant mother’s health and safety but also of the arriving the baby. Both need ultimate good care not only for the safe pregnancy but also to make the after pregnancy life medically secured. Here, to see the developments taking place as per your expectations and preferences, it is must to prepare a perfect birth plan. Preparing a birth plan well in advance with the consultation of your doctor helps your nursing staff to focus on the preset parameters not missing any priority. Knowledge of your preferences helps the nursing staff to meet your needs without getting confused about your opinion or acceptance. While preparing birth plan, you get enough opportunity to discuss with your partner about circumcision versus no circumcision, natural versus medicated childbirth, breast- versus bottle-feeding etc and the familiarity with the whole delivery process make the mothers more comfortable while delivering.
Now, should you prepare birth plan only considering your preferences, facilities and sentiments? Shouldn’t you plan for the healthy life of unborn child even before his/her birth? As a responsible parent; you need to do a lot of planning for medical wellbeing of your child. For the doctors too ensuring the medical wellbeing of the newborn is the primary concern. That is why, they take most advanced measures. Now, because of the advancement of medical science, we may go one step further to make your newly born more safe. How? The answer is – by preserving the cord blood of the baby. Otherwise, this miraculously potent blood is thrown away as medical waste. It is the blood that is present in the umbilical cord and can be extracted and preserved for decades for the future transplant needs of entire family. The cord blood stem cells is considered as a bio-insurance not only of your baby but for all the family members against more than 75 dreaded ailments like brain tumors, brain injuries, heart diseases and small-Cell lung cancer etc.
Storing your own baby’s cord blood is a first gift from your side to your baby. No doubt is left regarding the importance and medical value of Cord blood banking. More than 20 companies now offer this service either for donation or private storage. It is a hard to believe fact that inspite of global acceptance of Cord blood importance, very few expectant parents in India know about this ‘God gift’ and this is thrown in to dustbins.
Is not it an injustice to innocent newly born baby?

Although clinical experiments and research studies are still going on to use cord blood stem cells in treating many more life threatening diseases, there is no doubt about the importance and utility of cord blood. In India too, medical professionals are advising expecting parents to opt for stem cell banking with cord blood storage companies for safeguarding their child and the entire family against major illnesses & meet any future transplant needs. Seeing its established utility, many celebrities like Raveena Tandon, Priya Dutt(MP), film actor Madhavan’s wife are coming forward to make umbilical cord banks in India popular among would be parents. More and more expecting parents are approaching umbilical cord blood banks in India for registration. In India, cord blood banking has become one of the hottest discussed topic in medical and parent fraternity.
Though the acceptance of cord blood storage companies in India is increasing fast but even then many parents have many doubts about the purpose and importance of cord blood storage. Some of these are -
* Is it against traditional values?
*Whether it is possible to reserve cord blood exclusively for their use or not.
* Is it too costly an affair? Or should they invest so much for cord blood banking?
* What are the options?
Many Indian parents still think that cord blood collection is a painful procedure. But it is a pure myth. Cord blood is collected only after completion of childbirth and nothing is done with the child. The blood is extracted from the cut off cord that would have been otherwise thrown away. The collected cord blood can then be reserved exclusively for the use by the family by a private cord blood bank. While the cost of the cord blood banking in India has come down over the last few years, many still argue that it is on the higher side but its utility in future treatments and transplant needs justifies this investment.
Seeing the wide scope for cord blood bank in India, Cryobanks International has set up its India operations to help out willing parents. Cryobanks India is going to establish its collection center across the country. Medical experts believe that the sector would heat up further with the number of parents opting for stem cell banking increasing day by day not only in metro cities but in relatively small towns also.