Why should I bank my child’s Cord Blood Stem Cells?

“Haematopoietic Reconstitution”

Umbilical cord blood contains blood stem cells1, called Haematopoietic stem cells. Haematopoietic stem cells reside in the bone marrow and mature into blood cells that carry oxygen to our tissues (red blood cells) and make up our immune system (white blood cells). Chemotherapy and other cancer treatments can destroy these blood stem cells. When these stem cells are destroyed they need to be replaced. Putting stem cells back into the bone marrow is called “Haematopoietic Reconstitution”.

“Cord blood transplantation is widely accepted for use in the paediatric transplant community.” “Umbilical cord blood has been used successfully in related transplants for both malignant and non-malignant diseases.” Ballen 20052

“Human umbilical cord blood, with its real abundance, simple collection procedure and no serious ethical dilemmas, represents a valuable alternative to the use of other stem cell sources.” Ruhil et al. 20083

Thankfully, the chances of your baby developing any of these conditions are small, but should your child ever require a transplant of stem cells to treat a specific illness, finding a compatible donor can take valuable time and may even be unsuccessful – however, the cells we store from you baby’s cord blood are immediately available.

Many parents see the storage of their baby’s cord blood as a worthwhile investment and the knowledge that their child’s stem cells are stored and readily available makes their decision to store their baby’s cord blood a highly satisfying one.

1. Geissler K, Geissler W, Hinterberger W, Lechner K, Wurnig P. (1986) Circulating committed and pluripotent haematoopoietic progenitor cells in infants. Acta Heamatologica 75(1):18-22
2. Ballen KK (2005) New trends in umbilical cord blood transplantation. Blood 105:3786-3792
3. Ruhil S, Kumar V and Rathee P. (2009) Umbilical Cord Stem Cells: an overview. Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology 10(3):327-34