Pros and cons of cord blood banking

Cord blood banking is the ability to collect and preserve stem cells from the umbilical cord blood for potential medical uses in the future.

Cord Blood banking isn't routine in hospital or home deliveries — it's a procedure you have to choose and plan for beforehand, so be sure to consider your decision carefully before delivery day.

The expense of collecting and storing the cord blood can be a deciding factor for many families. At a commercial cord-blood bank, you'll pay approximately $1,000-$2,000 to store a sample of cord blood, in addition to an approximately $100 yearly maintenance fee. You might also pay an additional fee of several hundred dollars for the cord-blood collection kit, courier service to the cord-blood bank, and initial processing.

There are many families for which cord blood banking makes sense. Certain issues, such as family histories of genetic diseases or belonging to certain ethnic or racial groups, factor into the decision.

• History: If you have a family history or are worried about a predisposition to certain diseases, cord blood banking can give you peace of mind. Cord blood transplants treat over 45 diseases; malignancies, such as leukemia and other cancers; metabolic disorders; blood disorders, such as sickle-cell anemia, and immunodeficiencies. If this is your primary banking reason, then you should also consult a genetic counselor during your pregnancy.
• Recipient Compatibility: Because cord blood is a more primitive source of stem cell, the recipient runs a lower risk of graft vs. host disease (GVHD), a potentially life-threatening immune response.
• Accessility: Not only is cord blood easy to retrieve, because it's cryogenically stored, it is available for transplant whenever it is needed. Bone marrow, on the other hand, is more difficult to get a hold of; it is harder to find a donor matching your HLA type, and the process of retrieval is more complicated.
• Race: Belonging to certain ethnic or racial groups may mean a longer wait to find a bone marrow donor; therefore, donating or privately banking your baby's cord blood will make transplants readily available to these individuals.

While every parent wants to ensure their child's health, there are some hurdles to universal cord blood banking.

• Cost: While many companies in the profession view cord blood banking as an insurance, it's understandable that the price may be too high for many families.
• Likelihood: The American Association of Pediatrics estimated that the chances of banking and later using the stem cells for a transplant are about 1 in 20,000.
• Size: When it comes to cord blood transplants, size matters. Since a typical harvest is enough to transplant a child or small adult (weighing approximately 115 lb.), although research is currently working on proliferating cells in the laboratory in order to match a larger sized adult.

For parents who find these hurdles unsurpassable, the option of donating your blood to a non-profit public bank is viable.

As parents evaluate their reasons for banking their newborn's cord blood and begin to research cord blood bank facilities, there are many considerations and cautions to keep in mind.

Reference: http://www.pregnancy-info.net