What is umbilical cord blood?
Umbilical cord blood is the blood that can be collected from your baby’s umbilical cord and the placenta after they are born. Umbilical cord blood contains billions of powerful stem cells which, when used in a transplant for a matched donor, are the established treatment for over 80 different diseases. Should today’s clinical trial become clinical reality in the future, these powerful cells may even hold the key to regenerative medicine. This is why millions of parents in the UK and worldwide choose to store blood from their children’s umbilical cord and placenta.
Why choose it?
Stem cells are present in many parts of the human body. However, some sources contain richer concentrations than others. Human embryos are also excellent sources of stem cells, but they are highly controversial and illegal in some countries.
In contrast, umbilical cord blood and tissue are collected from material that usually has no use following a child’s birth. They are the richest and purest source of stem cells that your child will ever have. Therefore, storing umbilical cord blood stem cells offers a potential safeguard for your child’s future health. Moreover, they can be quickly and safely collected and reliably stored.
Cord blood outperforms all other stem cells sources on its:
- Availability
- Routine use in humans
- Low tumour risk
- It does not require powerful drugs to collect
- Contains HSCs (Hematopoietic stem cells)
- Contains MSCs (Mesenchymal stem cells)
- Capacity for high proliferation
- Low viral contamination risk
- Non-invasive and painless to collect
Umbilical cord blood stem cells have the potential to repair, regenerate and save lives. If you are interested in storing your child’s cord blood, contact Cells4Life today.
