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Cord blood is still a relatively new concept to many families, and people naturally have many questions about the cord blood banking process and the industry at large.
A common misconception about cord blood is that doctors refuse to treat patients with their own stem cells, when in fact the opposite is true. Transplants that require the use of a patient’s own stem cells are called ‘autologous’, and they are very common. They are often used to treat lymphoma and leukaemia. A patient receives their own stem cells for these transplants because the cells are a genetic match to the child, and develop into other cells necessary to make the child healthy, such as red blood cells or disease fighting immune cells.
Families with no history of cancer, blood diseases, or diminished brain activity often believe there is little, if any reason to bank their child’s cord blood. However, the cause of most cancers remains unknown. According to medical research, the probability that a person will require stem cells for a treatment is 1 in 400, while the likelihood that a child or family member will benefit from banked cord blood stem cells is 1 in 200.
Some parents question if cord blood banking takes important blood away from their baby. But the umbilical cord was always thrown away as afterbirth in years past, and cord blood is collected directly from the umbilical cord.
Families also wonder about public cord blood banks, which in Canada are currently not an option. Governments and private cord blood institutions support establishing a national public cord blood bank, but for the time being, private institutions are the only options for families.