Naming a newborn is definitely something all parents spend their time doing, but a decision that is rarely thought of or overlooked is preserving the newborn’s cord blood. Preserving cord blood is not something that doctors or nurses have brought to the attention of any pregnant woman, but this article will be the missing voice. Preserving a newborn’s cord blood means starting with a cord blood bank. This just allows a legal laboratory, designed for storing cord blood collected from newborns. In their lab, they will freeze it under stringent conditions where it can be stored indefinitely.
Umbilical cord blood: why it matters
Why is cord blood so important? The ultimate reason behind the importance is that it can only be captured once and then the resource is obsolete forever. Once your baby is born, there is a small window assigned to a qualified technician who will collect blood from the umbilical cord immediately after birth. Doctors discard the remnants of the umbilical cord and placenta immediately after birth, so it’s important to know in advance that you want to store your baby’s blood. Once collected, it can be used to save others from life-threatening diseases such as leukemia, cancer and many diseases that are still being studied. One of the main reasons behind the importance of saving newborn blood is that its use is primarily aimed at close relatives in your immediate lineage.
Procedures that can be used to store blood
There are currently (Dec 2011) a handful of programs in the United States that can save cord blood. If you’re still not sure about the importance of preserving your newborn’s blood, you should look into a program specifically for storage. The main programs available and the most popular are Cord Blood Registry (CBR), ViaCord and AlphaCord. These programs do have costs, but their full commitment to saving lives in the future is invaluable.
How is it stored?
These companies have storage facilities dedicated to freezing your baby’s blood for future use. They have backup energy to ensure it doesn’t thaw in weather conditions, protecting your most precious life-saving resource; cord blood. Storage uses the highest technology and latest equipment to freeze blood to -190 degrees Celsius. Special tanks are designed to protect it from nitrogen vapor or other damage. Facility to store cord blood is vital and saving lives is their most important goal.
If you’re interested in being a lifeguard someday, you should consider banking your newborn’s blood. This is a decision that can only be made once, so decide wisely. There’s no doubt that saving it costs a lot, but it turns out that it doesn’t cost anything, especially if you’re saving your own children. This special blood contains stem cells that are not available synthetically, so using your own child’s blood directly from the umbilical cord is more than just donating blood. You can give life.