Cells for Life is a professional umbilical cord blood bank. They store cord blood in the event the child, or a family member requires the stem cells. Visit their website to learn more http://www.cellsforlife.com

1. Cord Blood Banking
A Basic Guide

2. Cord blood banking is an important process that
many parents use to help ensure the future
health of their children. Most of us have heard
about the value of stem cells when treating
disease, and it is the stem cells found in the
umbilical cord and placenta after childbirth that
are used in cord blood banking.
The cord blood banking process is relatively
simple, but if you want more information, here’s
a basic guide.

3. Why Bank Cord Blood?
Basically, parents choose to bank cord blood in case it
might be useful in the future to treat a specific health
issue. Obviously, there is really only one chance to
collect blood from the umbilical cord, and with more and
more uses for it being found all the time, many parents
don’t want to miss out. Some of the reasons that parent
would want to participate in cord blood banking include:
• Bone marrow transplant
• Leukemia treatment
• Sickle cell anemia treatment
• Krabbe’s disease treatment

4. Why Bank cont…
The stem cells that come from cord blood have the
ability to produce all of the different cell types in the
body, which is one of the main benefits and reasons of
banking.
However, the real ‘why’ of cord blood banking may lie in
treatments that haven’t even been discovered yet. The
ones that are known are quite impressive, and with
research ongoing it’s only a matter of time before that
list is expanded. Cord blood banking means you’ll be
ready, if necessary.

5. How Is Cord Blood Extracted?
The cord blood extraction process is quite simple, but it
does require a good deal of skill and precision. After a
baby is born, the umbilical cord is cut like it always is,
then it is cleaned.
Once cleaned, a needle is inserted into the cord and
blood is drawn. This is repeated in a few different
locations along the cord, and the blood is deposited into
a sterile collection bag. After it’s all collected, the bag is
wrapped up in thermal wrappers and the cord blood is
sent to the lab.

6. How Is It Banked?
The process of cord blood banking basically means
freezing it and storing it in a sterile location or ‘bank’.
The blood may be banked in a facility for public use or a
private cord blood bank designed for private, family
use.
Banking cord blood in a public facility doesn’t cost
anything, but it may end up helping a stranger in the
future. If you don’t want to store cord blood privately,
public storage can make a difference is someone’s life.

7. The Moral Dilemma
Most people have likely heard of the moral issues raised
with stem cell extraction and using stem cells for
medical conditions. With cord blood banking, the moral
dilemma that many people have with embryonic stem
cells is no longer applicable.
With umbilical cord blood, the baby is already born and
the blood that is left in the cord is literally going to be
thrown away. This cord blood isn’t needed by the baby
anymore, but it still has the red and white blood cells
and plasma found in regular blood.

8. Moral Dilemma cont…
When cord blood is extracted for banking, the baby
doesn’t feel any pain, similar to when the cord is cut.
Cord blood banking is a quick, painless procedure that
occurs after the baby has been born using blood that is
going to be disposed of anyway.

9. Real-Life Examples
Some real-world examples of using stem cells to help
with serious medical problems, include:
• Recreating functional human blood vessels in mice
with only an injection. This could mean a future of non-
surgical heart repair.
• Injecting umbilical cord blood cells into the brains of
elderly rats and improving brain function.
• Growing tissue to replace a woman’s windpipe using
her own stem cells. This completely eliminates any fear
of rejection.

10. References
http://www.cellsforlife.com/umbilical-cord-blood.html#target
Cells for Life – Umbilical Cord Blood Bank