“Baby Cord Blood” is the blood contained in the umbilical cord of the infants. Umbilical cord is the cord that connects a baby in the numb with the mother. It is the cord responsible for the nutrition and development of child during the period of pregnancy.
Apart from this, the umbilical cord contains blood which is called cord blood or baby cord blood. This cord blood contains hematopoietic stem cell or simply stem cells, which are responsible for the growth of other type of cells. These stem cells grow in numbers through mitosis process and are developed during the process of development of embryo inside the womb. These stem cells can be considered as a type of immature blood cells, having the capability of being transplanted into any other human body cell and also the capability of evolving after transplantation into the body of the transplantee.
These stem cells are the building blocks of the human body and human immunity system. These are located inside the bone marrow of the human body. That is why no wonder the cord blood banking and preservation is managed under “National Marrow Donor Program.” The stem cell transplant has the advantage of the ability of being transplanted to third party even in case of full match is not obtained, which is as opposed to the case, in case of bone marrow transplantation. The bone marrow transplantation is also a very cumbersome painful and hectic process as compared to the stem cell transplant and also the only available alternative in case of specified diseases.
Being exact, these stem cells are also responsible for the development of red blood cells,
White blood cells, platelets and all other tissues. Being related to basic blood cells development, it is used to treat the baby in future.
In a way, it is part of insurance for future for not only baby but also the future generation of the infant. These stem cells or cord blood is taken from the infant at the time of birth and it could be preserved for years. In future if the infant gets any complications, these preserved cord blood cells are used to cure the kids. This is being successfully done for various diseases like sickle cell anemia, cancer, leukemia, anemia etc. not only the kid but also any other person requiring the similar tissues, which is subject to medical matching, can be benefited and cured by these baby cord blood or stem cells preserved. It is often done for the siblings as even half match cells have been successfully transplanted. That is why it is called a means of securing “Biological Insurance”
These cord bloods need to be preserved either with public or private blood banks for future use. In case of public blood banks this becomes unidentifiable, however in the case of private blood banks, it is identifiable but it becomes costly.
