Benefits of Cord Blood Stem Cells

Although cord blood stem cells are the best way to treat certain diseases, collecting them is still not considered to be a routine procedure in the delivery room. Because almost half of vaginal deliveries occur before the mom's actual due date, it is necessary to plan for storage well in advance. This is why if you are interested in collecting your baby's cord blood, you need not only know if the stem cells will benefit your family, but also learn about the available options offered for storing cord blood.

Most doctors recommend that parents make plans to bank their unborn baby's cord blood during the fourth month of gestation. Many times parents look to storing stem cells if they possess a family medical history of bone marrow transplant treatable diseases or they currently have a member of the family suffering from one of these diseases. If the latter is the case, the mother will need to be tested for eligibility as well as sign a form of consent before donating.

Because patients in need of stem cells usually have to wait for a long time to get them, their parents become interested in storing cord blood to eliminate the wait of finding a matching donor. Since the FDA granted approvals over 20 years ago, many public as well as private cord blood banks have sprung up. Even those who choose to store cord blood in a public bank can find a genetic match as soon as they need it. But what about stem cells taken from bone marrow? Research shows that stem cells from umbilical cords are more successful in treating certain diseases as opposed to those from bone marrow.

There are basically three kinds of cord blood banking facilities--public banks, non-profit private cord blood banks, and for-profit private cord blood banks.  The payments charged by each varies according to the type of facility.  The majority of these banks provide a payment package for their clients.  This package lists the fees charged for enrollment, kits, courier service, laboratory use, processing, and storing of each cord blood sample.

You need to be aware that private cord blood facilities charge an upwards of $2,000 for their banking services, but some of these places do not collect payment until the samples that are donated go through testing to determine their storage worth.  However, the price is a lot less expensive if the cord blood sample is given for research use.  Those who end up storing their baby's cord blood for 15-20 years may be offered a pre-pay plan.  This plan includes a once-only payment as well as discounts. 

There is always the option of using a cord blood facility that offers its services as a non-profit organization.  But although an affordable payment plan can be tempting to accept, you should only agree to this if the bank has a record of being efficient.