There is a growing awareness among parents about the future health benefits of cord blood and tissue banking. If you have a family history of genetically inheritable diseases, you must consider this option after the birth of your baby. By saving your newborn baby’s cord blood and tissue for future use in a private bank, you can ensure that he or she can receive treatment for serious medical conditions through transplantation or cell therapy. You can even find affordable cord blood banks at $19.99/month

What is cord blood tissue?

Cord blood tissue is the tissue found in the umbilical cord tissue of newborn babies. It contains regenerative stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), perivascular stem cells, and endothelial stem cells. Collecting the cord blood tissue from the umbilical cord and then isolating the stem cells is easier, non-invasive, and painless than extracting them from the bone marrow. Moreover, you can preserve the tissue indefinitely through cord blood and tissue banking.

What is cord blood tissue banking?

Cord blood tissue banking is the method of processing and storing cord blood using cryogenic preservation methods. After parents decide to bank their baby’s cord blood tissue, they can contact a reputable cord blood bank with accreditation by the FDA and other regulatory agencies several weeks before their baby’s birth. The cord blood bank will provide a blood collection kit that the doctor or nurse can use to extract the cord blood tissue from the newborn’s umbilical cord.

A medical courier will convey the extracted samples to the storage bank, and there they will undergo screening for infectious disease and bacterial contamination and analysis for stem cell content. That can ensure that a higher count of quality cells can remain viable for use in different medical therapies. Then, within 24 hours, they will be prepared for storage with liquid nitrogen cryopreservation methods. The cord tissue blood bank will send you a report of the stem cell count and viability along with a unique identifying number for your stored sample for easy retrieval later.

Cord blood tissue banks are high-tech facilities that use the latest technologies like AXP II Processing, BioArchive Smart Robotics Tank, MCASS Processing, Segmented Tissue Storage, and MVE Tank. With these, the banks can safely and conveniently process, store, and access their cord blood tissue inventory. The banks can scale up to accommodate evolving technologies. They must have a continuous power supply to ensure the safe storage of the cord blood tissue samples.

There may be a monthly, annual, 20-year, or lifetime storage charge for cord blood and tissue banking. It can be expensive to store cord blood tissue for a long time, but it may be worth it due to its health therapy potential. You can choose to keep the tissue in a private bank exclusively for your baby and your family, which will be more expensive than storing it in a public bank. However, in a public bank, anyone can access the stored sample. Your family will not have sole access.

What are the benefits of cord blood tissue for your children?

Your children can benefit from cord blood and tissue banking in the following ways:

Useful for health therapies

The research is still ongoing on using cord blood tissue for medical therapies. However, the ability of the stem cells in the cord blood tissue to differentiate and replicate is promising. Along with duplicating themselves, these stem cells can differentiate into tissue and organs. They can develop into muscle, cartilage, bones, nerves, heart, brain, intestines, and liver. Researchers are currently seeking ways to develop viable tissue and organs that they can use in transplantation therapies.

No rejection issues

Since the stem cells from the cord blood tissue are from the baby’s body, there will be no rejection-related issues with using them in therapies in the future. There will be no need to wait for a matching donor to carry out the medical procedures.

Cord blood tissue storage

Once the cord blood tissue is in the bank, you can preserve it forever. Your children can avail of the stored cord blood tissue as and when necessary. They can contact the cord blood tissue bank, and the technicians will unfreeze the sample and deliver it to the hospital for cell therapy.