What remains in your baby’s umbilical cord after it has been severed is cord blood. There are cord blood banks to collect and preserve cord blood stem cells. Stem cells are useful because they aid in the treatment of a variety of fatal illnesses.
Some individuals do it because the baby’s cells match perfectly with the cells in the cord blood. As a result, the umbilical cord of a newborn infant contains potentially life-saving stem cells that can be utilized to treat conditions including sickle-cell anemia, lymphoma, and leukemia.
Although stem cells cannot be utilized to cure hereditary diseases, they can be used to treat another child who requires stem cells and has comparable characteristics.
This article discusses some important things you must remember when selecting a cord blood bank.
Things You Need To Consider Before Selecting The Best Cord Blood Bank
Given below are some things you need to consider when you opt to store your baby’s umbilical blood in a cord blood bank:
Types Of Cord Blood Banks
There are two types of cord blood banks where you can store your child’s cord blood:
- Private Cord Bank
Families can preserve stem cells in private cord blood banks for themselves and their loved ones. When compared to cord blood from a public donor, using related cord blood for transplantation has a success rate that is twice as high.
Private cord blood banking may be the best option if you, your spouse, or your partner have a family history of an illness that may be treated with stem cells or if a family member is currently in need of a stem cell transplant.
- Public Cord Bank
Anyone who satisfies the public cord blood bank’s donation guidelines is eligible for free cord blood banking. In addition, they can do these collections free of charge for the family because federal or private funds frequently back them. Below is a summary of the benefits and drawbacks of public cord blood banks realdatesnow
Safety
After a baby has been delivered and the umbilical cord has been severed, cord blood donation often occurs. Although there is debate regarding when the umbilical vein should be constricted in various nations, it is still regarded as safe.
If a donor has any queries or worries regarding the hazards associated with donation, they should always speak with a healthcare professional. It is possible to identify ethical problems with collecting and preserving umbilical cord blood.
These include access and organization, public and private banks, informed consent, ownership, medical indications, claims connected to medical benefits, quality assurance, and traceability.
Insurance
Insurance companies often don’t pay for cord blood banking. Still, they could pay all or part of the costs if there is a family history of leukemia or another heritable blood illness.
In most cases, insurance companies do not pay for cord blood banking when there isn’t a current or imminent medical need for stem cells. Health insurance companies won’t pay for cord blood banks if the purpose of the banking is preventative.
Whether the stem cells are being preserved as part of an ongoing treatment plan or utilized to treat a condition that is very likely to occur soon will affect the cost of cord blood storage.
When an allogeneic transplant is impending for a known recipient with a condition consistent with the potential requirement for such a transplant, cord blood banking from a newborn may be medically required.
Licenses
The Food, Medication & Cosmetic Act and Section 351 of the Public Health Service Act both recognize cord blood kept for prospective future use by a patient unrelated to the donor as a biological product and a drug under the definitions of both acts.
Before being used, cord blood in this category must satisfy extra criteria and obtain a biologics licensing application (BLA) license.
You can store your baby’s cord blood at a private facility or give it to a public or private cord blood bank. However, any private businesses that carry out the necessary manufacturing processes for cord blood must register with the FDA and list their goods.
Registration with FDA only indicates that a company has informed the agency that it is carrying out one or more manufacturing stages; it does not suggest that the company has been “approved” by the organization.
Last Thing To Consider — Price
Parents spend a lot of money on the convenience of preserving cord blood for eventual personal use. However, starting collection and processing costs might be as low as $1,200 for cord blood only and as much as $2,895 for the most comprehensive bundle.
A client pays an annual storage cost once a year, usually around the baby’s birthday, after paying the initial price.
According to a 2019 study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, parents who choose the private cord blood banking method often spend between $300 to $2,300 for collection, processing, and initial storage and then pay extra yearly storage costs.
Placental and umbilical cord tissue are additional storage tissues that can add up to an extra $800 to $1,300 per year in costs, on average.
