Cord Blood Banking

Marion Welch Medical Coordinator of the accredited cord blood bank will discuss the decision to bank your baby's cord blood. The decision to bank your baby's cord blood or not is onoe of the most important decisions parents need to make before their baby is born. If you are expecting you have the option to collect and preserve the stem cells from your baby's cord. These stem cells can later be used to treat over 50 diseases. The cord blood collected is a perfect match for the baby a 50% chance of a perfect match to the parents and a 25% of a perfect match to siblings. The collection of cord blood is safe and harmless to mother and baby. A cord Blood collection kit is sent to the expectant mother to bring to the hospital . The obstetrician will collect the cord blood after delivery, whether vaginal or by C- Section. The cord blood is then shipped to the cord blood laboratory for processing and long term storage. Parents have 3 options for their baby's cord blood They can privately store for their family, if available at their hospital, they can donate or they can discard the cord blood at birth.