A SERIOUS OPTION FOR PREGNANT PARENTS TO CONSIDER. Robert Sears, MD

When my wife was pregnant with our third child, I remember sitting in our obstetrician's (OB) waiting room together while my wife flipped through the latest pregnancy magazine.

"Hey honey, look at this!" I heard my wife say. She showed me an article about cord blood stem cell banking and asked me if we should look into it.

I discovered it was much simpler than I'd imagined. After the umbilical cord is cut, the blood is drained out of the placenta and remaining umbilical cord, thus the term, "cord blood." This blood is rich in baby's "stem cells," which are immature blood cells that are able to change and mature into any type of blood cell as baby grows, just like bone marrow cells. Today cord blood stem cells are being used to treat nearly 70 different cancers and blood disorders.

My wife felt strongly about banking the baby's blood because she had cancer as a teenager. She wanted to take every precaution for our kids, and having some cord blood available in case any of them should need it gave her peace of mind. And, she could even use it herself. Of course, we hoped we would never need it for these reasons, but as I read more about stem cells, I found out there were many more uses than just treating cancer. This is really what got me excited about banking our baby's blood. I decided to invest in our family's future.

The Benefits of Family Cord Blood Banking

Cord blood stem cells are not just for your baby. It's really an investment for the whole family. And while the chance that any family member will use the cord blood for cancer treatment is very low, the likelihood that it could be used to treat a variety of diseases is considerable. Scientists have discovered significant potential for the use of stem cells in treating conditions such as nerve and brain damage, strokes, multiple sclerosis, and cardiovascular disease, the number one cause of death in this country. If stem cell treatments become a viable and routine option for preventing and treating cardiovascular disease, then having banked stem cells will be an enormous advantage.

Cancer and other blood-related disorders

Besides these exciting possibilities, there are still the current uses for treating certain cancers and other blood problems. Here are some benefits when cord blood is used instead of bone marrow:

• Research shows survival rates more than double when a person's own cord blood or a family member's cord blood is used, compared to using an unrelated donor sample from a public stem cell bank (63% survival with related cord blood, 29% survival with unrelated cord blood).


• Having your own private sample ensures immediate availability.


• Cord blood stem cells are easier to match than bone marrow, thus increasing the chance that a family member can receive a related stem cell transplant.


• Patients who receive cord blood stem cell transplants have a smaller chance of rejecting the cells, compared to bone marrow stem cell transplants.

During my pediatric training I spent two months in the Children's Hospital Bone Marrow Transplant ward. I watched numerous kids undergo these transplants. Kids who used their own bone marrow, or a family member's marrow, faired much better. It provides some peace of mind that if ever our family is faced with such a challenge, we will have better treatment options available to us.

How cord blood is collected and stored

Before your due date, the cord blood bank sends you a collection kit that contains everything that is needed for the process. When baby is born, and the umbilical cord is cut, the OB or Midwife collects the blood from the remaining umbilical cord and placenta into a syringe or blood bag. The process only takes a few minutes, and can even be collected during a C-section. A family member places the cord blood into the pre-addressed mailing package, and makes one phone call to a medical courier to pick up the kit. Within hours the cord blood is picked up and shipped overnight to the cord blood bank. Once there, it is processed. The stem cells are removed from the cord blood, and it is placed into liquid nitrogen for storage.

Choosing a cord blood bank

Deciding WHOM we should trust to do the banking was a challenge. There are several private cord blood companies to choose from, and I spent days reading their literature and scrutinizing their Web sites.

Here are some reasons why we chose Cord Blood Registry:

• CBR has done more transplants than any other family bank. Samples released for transplant were viable and completely usable. This was important to me because I felt if a bank has never used a single sample, how do they know their samples are viable and being stored properly?


• CBR was the first cord blood bank to become accredited by the AABB and is a proven leader in the industry.


• CBR has more processing experience than any other cord blood bank, and owns and operates their own storage facility.


• CBR stores their samples in multiple units. Scientists are currently working on techniques to expand the stem cells stored in a single cord blood sample. When the technology becomes available, it will be advantageous to have your sample stored in multiple units.


• CBR is a financially strong company and has been storing cord blood since 1995. This is crucial because you want your samples to still be around in 20 years or more.

Deciding whether or not to bank your baby's cord blood is a personal decision and a financial commitment. But parents only have one chance with each child to take advantage of this technology. When choosing where to store your child's cord blood cells, it's important to ask questions and research your decision carefully.

Dr. Robert Sears, M.D.
Pediatrician and Medical Advisor to CBR Systems, Inc.