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Banking Your Baby's Cord Blood - A Serious Option for Pregnant Parents to Consider

Robert Sears, MD

Today's expectant parents are faced with many decisions about the type of birth they want to have: Birthing center or hospital? Epidural or natural? Rooming in with baby or, "Please take that baby to the nursery and let me sleep!"

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. I wasn't paying much attention because we had already made every possible decision about our birth. We knew exactly what type of birth we wanted, and now it was just a matter of waiting.

"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. What I wanted to say was, "Oh no. Now we have to make another decision about our birth." But what came out of my mouth was "That's interesting dear, but it's way too complicated and probably just a gimmick anyway." Well, my wife read through the article and by the end she was convinced we should do it. It appeared we had made another decision.

Over the next couple of weeks I researched the issue thoroughly. If we were going to bank our baby's cord blood, we were going to do it right. I discovered it was much simpler than I'd imagined. The cord blood wouldn't actually be taken from our baby at all. 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. These cells are preserved in a storage facility, ready for use when needed.

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. Research is showing promising results using stem cells to treat heart disease and neurological diseases. This is really what got me excited about banking our baby's blood - not just to treat cancer, but for all the other chronic diseases that could possibly be cured or improved with this new and innovative treatment. 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. Virtually all mothers and about half of siblings will be a suitable match for baby's stem cells. 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 other diseases is considerable. The list of such diseases is growing every year as researchers study this fascinating field.

Heart Attacks. Doctors have infused stem cells into the damaged heart muscle of numerous heart attack patients to see if the cells would generate new heart tissue and repair the damage. Results so far look promising.

Coronary Artery Disease. Doctors have infused stem cells in the hearts of patients with clogged arteries. The stem cells helped new blood vessels grow around the blocked arteries, thus improving blood flow to the areas in the heart at risk of damage.

Vascular Disease. Stem cells have been shown to grow new blood vessels around narrowed or damaged arteries in the limbs and restore impaired blood flow.

Nerve and Brain Damage. Researchers have recently shown in a laboratory setting that human stem cells can mature into nerve cells. The implication of this for treating a variety of neurological problems is astounding.

Strokes. Researchers have shown that infusing human stem cells into rats improves brain function after a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

Multiple Sclerosis. Doctors have infused stem cells into patients with MS and have shown mild improvement in their disease.

Cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes) is the number one cause of death. 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. If researchers continue to show stem cells' ability to regenerate damaged or diseased brain tissue, then the possibility for treating neurological conditions such as MS, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's is exciting. Diabetes is another disease that is affecting more and more people. If stem cells could regenerate new pancreas tissue, millions of people could benefit. Who knows where we'll be with stem cell treatments in 10 or 20 years?

Cancer and other blood-related disorders. Besides these exciting possibilities, there are still the current uses for treating certain cancers and other blood problems. Recent research shows the odds that a child will someday need to use his or her own newborn stem cells for current treatments are estimated at 1 in 400*. Odds that the newborn or a family member may benefit from banked cord blood are estimated at 1 in 200*.

Stem cells can either be taken from the patient's or a matching family member's bone marrow, or from stored cord blood. Here are some benefits when cord blood is used instead of bone marrow:

• Research has shown that survival rates 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.

• Having your own private sample ensures immediate availability of a perfectly matched sample.

• While bone marrow can also be a source of stem cells if needed, cord blood stem cells are easier to match for family members, thus increasing the chance that a family member can receive a related stem cell transplant.

• Research has shown that 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. This is one reason I decided to bank my child's cord blood. 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.

*Pasquini MC, Logan BR, Verter F, Horowitz MM, Nietfeld JJ. The Likelihood of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HCT) in the United States: Implications for Umbilical Cord Blood Storage. Blood 2005; 106(11): 1330.

How cord blood is collected and stored

Months before your due date, the cord blood bank sends you a collection kit that contains everything that is needed for the process. The bank also sends your OB or Midwife instructions to make sure he or she knows how to collect the blood. When baby is born, and the umbilical cord is cut, the OB or Midwife collects the blood from the remaining umbilical cord and placenta (not from baby) into a syringe or blood bag. The process only takes a few minutes, and the blood is then set aside until all the birth excitement dies down. It 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 deep freeze storage. Collecting cord blood is simple, completely safe and non-invasive, and takes very little time.

Choosing a cord blood bank

Making the decision to bank our baby's cord blood was easy. 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. I even called each bank and asked some important questions. I was surprised to learn how different the various institutions are. Some don't store the cord blood themselves, but are just a middleman and send your sample to another company for storage. Some companies aren't even certified as a blood bank. And I was shocked to find out that some banks have never even had a single stored sample used for transplant. I learned very quickly that, like most things in life, you get what you pay for.

After all my research, I chose a bank that was, in our opinion, the best choice- Cord Blood Registry. Here are some reasons why we chose CBR:

• CBR has more transplant experience than any other private bank. As of this writing, they have released 109 stored units for transplants. 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, and has a perfect record. Why is this important? Many hospitals won't accept units for transplant unless the storage facility is an accredited blood bank.

• CBR currently has more than 260,000 cord blood samples stored, and owns and operates their own storage facility. They are not just a middle-man.

• CBR stores their samples in multiple vials. This is crucial because it allows one small vial to be unfrozen and tested for matching BEFORE the entire stored unit is prepared. That way, if a family member doesn't match, the entire unit isn't wasted. It may someday also allow more than one person to use the stem cells if the entire sample isn't needed at once.

• CBR is affiliated with the University of Arizona, a well-respected institution. This gives me confidence that they are a professional institution that has a long-term interest in stem cell research and medical applications. It also gives other doctors who are treating their patients with stem cells confidence to know the samples are coming from a reputable institution.

• CBR is a financially strong company and has been storing cord blood since 1992. 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. You can enroll anytime during your pregnancy, but the earlier you do so, the more time you and your labor attendant have to receive the collection kit. When choosing where to store your child's cord blood cells, it's important to ask questions and research your decision carefully. Make sure the choice you make is as serious about storing the cord blood cells as you are.

About Dr. Bob Sears