Benefits of Banking Cord Blood
Cord blood banking in the Boston area is the process of carefully collecting and preserving the blood found in a newborn’s umbilical cord for future medical use.
This one-time option is only available at birth, yet it provides a powerful advantage that may help address serious, acute, and life-threatening conditions. Parents naturally want to safeguard their family’s future, and storing stem cells offers an effective way to add that extra layer of protection.
This advanced medical option gives your family early access to treatment possibilities for more than eighty conditions, including:
- Inherited Disorders
- Blood-Related Conditions
- Immune System Disorders
- Certain Forms of Cancer
- And More
Keep in mind, this opportunity is available simply by choosing to store your baby’s cord blood with a cord blood bank located in the Boston area.
Reach Out to the NECBB Team
Benefits of Cord Blood and Tissue Banking
Health
Saving these stem cells offers the potential to save your baby’s life, or another family member’s life.
Affordability
On a 20 year plan, cord blood banking breaks down to less fifty cents a day.
It's easy
The cord blood and cord tissue collection process is simple and painless to the baby and mother.
Access
Banking stem cells means no lengthy waits or expenses that come with finding a donor match in a public bank.
The Future
Your stem cells have the potential to be used in an increasing number of potential therapies.
Treatment Benefits of Banking Cord Blood in Boston
With more than 35,000 transplants performed worldwide and applications in treating over 80 conditions, cord blood stem cells have become a major advancement in modern medicine. Their effectiveness in addressing cancers, as well as metabolic, immune, and blood-related disorders, has significantly changed the landscape of medical treatment.
Above all, banking cord blood offers a meaningful way to help protect the health of your child or even other family members, should the need ever arise.
Better Understanding of Cord Blood
Cord blood is the blood that has been leftover in the umbilical cord after the baby has been born and the cord has removed. Cord blood has a high HSC (Hematopoietic Stem Cell) count, which is very similar to the stem cells that are found within bone marrow. The importance of cord blood is that the stem cells can help reconstitute one’s immune system. This means that it can treat, and possibly even replace, damaged cells within your body.
Many Uses of Umbilical Cord Blood
One of the most notable advantages of cord blood is that it offers a non-controversial source of hematopoietic stem cells and can be collected quickly and without pain. Compared to bone marrow, cord blood provides several benefits for both donors and recipients during transplantation. Most importantly, it is far easier to collect and does not require an exact donor match. While bone marrow transplants demand a perfect 100% compatibility, research shows cord blood transplants can still be successful with matches as low as 67%. Additionally, cord blood can be cryogenically preserved for immediate availability and is used to treat blood and immune-related illnesses such as leukemia and lymphoma.
Boston Cord Blood Collection Process
The top question most people have is what the process is for cord blood collection. Your cord blood bank in Boston will collect your cord blood and cord tissue through a simple process that involves the doctor delivering your child, with no risk for you. There are a few steps that we go through during the collection process.
1. Enroll with NECBB
This step should take place well before the birth of your child. Enroll with us and fill out our questionnaire. Once you do, we make sure we have all of the information we need. Then we just need the samples shipped to us post-birth.
2. Inform Your Doctor
Of course, your delivery doctor needs to be informed that you intend to collect your baby’s cord blood, so the proper precautions can take place to ensure it is done so safely and with no contamination.
3. Bring Your Collection Kit to the Birth
As you prepare the items you’ll bring with you for delivery, be sure to pack your cord blood collection kit as well. Your physician will use this kit to carefully collect the cord blood and ensure it remains protected during shipment to our facility. Once it reaches us, the cord stem cells will be processed and securely stored.
From that point on, our trained specialists will handle everything, allowing you peace of mind during an already busy and important day.
Possible Treatment Benefits of Cord Blood and Tissue Banking
- Acute Biphenotypic Leukemia
- Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL)
- Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)
- Acute Undifferentiated Leukemia
- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
- Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
- Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (JCML)
- JuvenileMyelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML)
- Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
- Prolymphocytic Leukemia
- Multiple Myeloma
- Acute Myelofibrosis
- Agnogenic Myeloid Metaplasia (Myelofibrosis)
- Aplastic Anemia (Severe)
- Essential Thrombocythemia
- Fanconi Anemia
- Myelodysplastic Syndrome
- Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH)
- Polycythemia Vera
- Pure Red Cell Aplasia
- Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts (RAEB)
- Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts in Transition (RAEB-T)
- Refractory Anemia with Ringed Sideroblasts (RARS)
- Sickle Cell Disease
- DiGeorge Syndrome
- Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Diseases (SCID)
- Kostmann Syndrome (SCID)
- Omenn Syndrome (SCID)
- Gaucher Disease
- Hunter Syndrome (MPS-II)
- Hurler Syndrome (MPS-IH)
- Krabbe Disease
- Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome (MPS-VI)
- Metachromatic Leukodystrophy
- Mucolipidosis II (I-cell Disease)
- Niemann-Pick Disease
- Sanfilippo Syndrome (MPS-III)
- Scheie Syndrome (MPS-IS)
- Sly Syndrome (MPS-VII)
- Wolman Disease
We Are Here For You
The decision to bank the cord blood from your child’s birth might seem a little out there, and something that you need to think about long and hard. This is totally understandable, and we have seen it with a number of our clients who ultimately made the decision to bank their newborn’s cord blood and tissue.
We would be happy to explain anything you might be confused about and help you understand the true benefits of cord blood. We are here to help you and your family with cord blood banking in Boston!