A cord blood bank is a facility which stores umbilical cord blood for future use. Both private and public cord blood banks have developed since the mid- to late-1990s in response to the potential for cord blood transplants in treating diseases of the blood and immune systems.
Public banks accept donations to be used for anyone in need. Unlike private cord blood banking, public cord blood banking is supported by the medical community. However, there are very strict regulations which public banks need to follow in order to enable the donated units to be added to a registry. Generally, an expectant mother interested in donation should contact the bank before the 34th week of pregnancy. The National Marrow Donor Program has a list of public cord blood banks on their website. Once the blood is donated, it loses all identifying information after a short period of initial testing. Families are not able to retrieve their own blood after it has been donated, but, as discussed below, it is very unlikely that they would be able to use the sample themselves.
Banking a cord blood in private banks is a personal choice made by both parents. Private banks store cord blood with a link to the identity of the donor, so that the family may retrieve it later if it is needed. The parents have custody of the cord blood until the child is an adult. The cord blood might someday be needed by the donor baby, or it could be used by a relative who is a close enough match to receive a transplant from the donor (typically a sibling). Private banks charge a fee of around $1000–$2000 to preserve the harvested cord blood for family biological insurance. Private banks have been criticized for aggressive marketing campaigns to expectant parents.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration regulates cord blood under the category of “Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue Based-Products.” The Code of Federal Regulations under which the FDA regulates public and private cord blood banks is Title 21 Section 1271. Other countries also have regulations pertaining to cord blood.
Cord blood contains hematopoietic stem cells, progenitor cells which can form red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Cord blood cells are currently used to treat blood and immune system related genetic diseases, cancers, and blood disorders. Medical critics of routine cord blood collection emphasize that, if neonatal cord blood is so physiologically valuable, it is of great benefit for the neonate to receive upon birth.
Read more about Cord Blood Bank: The Collection Process, Cryopreservation, Benefits of Banking Cord Blood, Cord Blood and Regenerative Medicine, Banking Umbilical Cord Tissue, Issues Common To All Cord Blood Banks, Banking Methods, Public Banks, Private Banks, Medical Issues, Confusion With Embryonic Stem Cells
Famous quotes containing the words cord, blood and/or bank:
“The psychological umbilical cord is more difficult to cut than the real one. We experience our children as extensions of ourselves, and we feel as though their behavior is an expression of something within us...instead of an expression of something in them. We see in our children our own reflection, and when we don’t like what we see, we feel angry at the reflection.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“Your kind doesn’t just kill men. You murder their spirits, you strangle their last breath of hope and freedom, so that you, the chosen few, can rule your slaves in ease and luxury. You’re a sadist just like the others, Heiser, with no resource but violence and no feeling but fear, the kind you’re feeling now. You’re drowning, Heiser, drowning in the ocean of blood around this barren little island you call the New Order.”
—Curtis Siodmak (1902–1988)
“When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Exodus 2:3.