Basics of Cord Blood Donation and Storage
New parents are often faced with a tough decision - Should they donate their child’s cord blood, or store it in case the child needs it one day?
Cord blood is a potential treatment for leukemia, lymphoma, and several other diseases. You can see a list of conditions that can be treated with cord blood and/or bone marrow here.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is not recommending cord-blood-banking as “biological insurance” (for future self-use). Costs are relatively high, and it is difficult to predict what percentage of children will need the blood. The AAP also warns that:
The policy also points out that if cord clamping is done too soon after birth, the infant may be deprived of a placental blood transfusion, resulting in lower blood volume and increased risk for anemia later in life. (scroll down for source)
Here are some good resources if you are looking into storing or donating your child’s cord blood, or you just want to learn about this interesting issue:
- AAP Cord Blood Statement - The AAP’s statement against “cord blood banking for future transplantation”.
- Cord Blood FAQs - From Marrow.org, the National Marrow Donor Program.
- About.com article - Deciding whether or not to bank cord blood, good overview and pros & cons.
- Cordblood.com - The Cord Blood Registry