Cord Blood Banking

I don’t think I mentioned this before in any other post. Tina and I decided to bank Uma’s cord blood. We didn’t do that for Rohan because at the time it seemed more experimental than it does now. These stem cells from these cord blood banks have actually been used several times in the last year to save lives. This time around, we looked at it as an insurance policy and one we would forever regret if we actually needed to use it but didn’t decide to because of a few bucks. Protecting our babies is worth it. It was certainly not cheap, costing $2150 in total for the first year and will cost $125/yr after that. We used Cord Blood Registry (CBR), which is the older and more established of the two main cord blood banks. If you haven’t checked this out before and someone in your life is expecting a baby, it’s worth considering. If you want to buy something practical for your friends, family, or children, this is a fantastic and caring gift idea.

 

We got Uma’s report back today and she has 612 million cord blood cells (stem cells) in the bank. That is double the average, so we have to say many thanks to our doctor (James Knoer) for being so diligent about collecting it. I watched him do it after Uma was born and he literally “milked” the cord blood out of the umbilical cord. I never thought I would find that process so interesting, but I did. How cool! The cord blood itself is stored at a secure facility in Tucson. In the event we ever needed it, it would be sent out on the next flight from Tucson and couriered directly to where it needed to be. Currently, stem cells are being used to treat about 70 diseases (leukemia, other cancers, and blood disorders) and we believe that number is going to increase dramatically over the coming years. This may one day save a family member’s life, not just Uma’s.