Cord Blood Difinition & Collection

Cord blood is a sample of blood taken from a newborn baby's umbilical cord blood. While, Umbilical cord blood or placental blood is blood that remains in the placenta and in the attached umbilical cord after childbirth.

Cord blood contains all the normal elements of blood - red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. But it is also rich in hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells, similar to those found in bone marrow. This is why cord blood can be used for transplantation as an alternative to bone marrow.

It can be used in the treatment over 75 different diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma and anemia. Many expecting parents choose to bank their newborn's cord blood, as it may be useful in the future, should the child or a related family member fall victim to a disease that is potentially treatable by cord blood stem cells.

Reference :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord_blood