Why store or donate my babies
umbilical cord blood?
The success of transplants is related to the number of cells transplanted and clinical practice is exploring the use of double umbilical cord blood transplants. This is where having one perfect match unit available to combine with a close match is likely to be valuable if medical practice moves to adopt this approach.

Of particular importance is the fact that cord blood you store for one child may be useful for another. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine 1 has shown that one year survival from related cord blood transplants was approximately double that of unrelated transplants.

Two further studies by Gluckman2 and Cohen et al3 also found that transplants with umbilical cord blood stem cells had a higher probability of engraftment coupled with the reduced risks of Graft vs Host disease (GVHD) vs other methods of transplant. GVHD effectively rejects the transplant and leads to potentially fatal damage to other organs.

Furthermore, parents-to-be who are having their baby within the NHS, in the main, are not being informed about the opportunity they have to store their baby’s stem cells. Expectant mothers take care of themselves, eat well, stop smoking and drinking and do everything they can to give their baby the very best start in life. It is important that every expectant mother should be given the facts about stem cell storage so they can make an informed decision and have the freedom of choice on the issue.

There are many misconceptions surrounding stem cell storage and treatment, with some of those who are unfamiliar with the subject conjuring up sinister images of Dolly the Sheep or mice with human ears. The reality of storage is far less dramatic, it is simply a way of parents taking out natural life insurance for their whole family.

Peter Hollands, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science and stem cell pioneer states “I would like to see umbilical cord storage offered to every pregnant woman. It is a simple process which can be a life-saver.”