Motherhood is a testing time for any woman and there are hundreds of questions related to motherhood that every woman wants to ask. There are all sorts of questions from prenatal to postnatal to delivery details to self-care. Though the questions this article will cover will be related to a rather new thing for a lot of mothers, cord blood. A lot of people do not know what cord blood exactly is and why it should be a topic of discussion. There are some popular questions lined up for us that are related to this topic so let’s try and answer them slowly to educate the people and especially the mothers.
What is cord blood?
When a mother delivers a baby, the baby is still attached to the mother via an umbilical cord which is cut immediately after the baby is delivered safely. The umbilical cord is used to provide nutrients, stem cells, and other nourishments to the baby via blood. So when the baby is delivered and the cord is severed, there is still a lot of rich blood left in the cord which is called cord blood. So the name is quite self-explanatory. The blood left in the umbilical cord is called cord blood.
Why is cord blood valuable?
Cord blood is extremely valuable as it contains stem cells in high concentrations which are crucial for a lot of medical practices and remedies for curing hundreds of deadly diseases. Cord blood samples help in a lot of research based on some of the most futuristic and important medical queries. Thanks to researches like these, diseases like leukemia, which is a dangerous blood harming disease, can be totally cured by cord blood. Cord blood has contributed to finding the cure for about 80 such life-threatening diseases.
What is Cord blood banking?
Now that we know what cord blood is and for what it is used, let us go ahead and look more into detail. When a woman delivers she can either donate her cord blood or she can pay to keep it stored for her. Of course, it won’t be possible to simply take the cord blood and give it for research or surgery immediately. The blood would have to be stored until it will be required for surgery or research.
Is there a difference between private and public cord blood banking?
After knowing the value of cord blood and understanding the reason for it to be stored in a bank, mothers usually start with some more research. This brings us to another frequently asked question “What’s the difference between private and public cord blood banking” asked by a lot of women. The difference is not much. In private banks, the cold blood is stored just for the client and they charge the client money to store it properly. The blood can later be used for their children and it will always be available on demand. In public banks, the donated blood is stored free of cost but then it is stored for everyone’s use. There is no guarantee that if in the future the mother needs her cord blood, it will be readily available.
Cord blood is quite a valuable thing and many people still do not know its importance. All mothers should make it a point to know about cord blood and its banks as it might be extremely helpful for them in the future. It might be life-saving and thus all doubts should be clarified without hesitation.
