The umbilical cord is the mother-to-baby lifeline. The baby receives all the oxygen, nutrients and blood that the baby needs to grow and develop through the umbilical cord. Many of our parents who want to store the umbilical cord blood of their child have questions about when to tighten the cord and how the timing affects the volume and storage of cord blood collection.

With more and more research and evidence showing the benefits of delayed cord clamping, coupled with parents wanting to store the umbilical cord blood of their child, the question is asked on many occasions: can cord clamping be delayed and umbilical cord blood still collected?

Delayed cord clamping is a practice of waiting between newborn delivery and umbilical cord clamping to allow extra blood to be transferred from placenta to baby. Delayed cord clamping in premature babies appears to be beneficial in improving blood circulation and reducing the risk of some complications. To allow more blood to enter the baby and to increase the amount of hemoglobin and iron in the child, many parents are also delaying the cord clamping in their term pregnancies. It may result in a lower risk of iron deficiency. One study even found fine-motor and social skills improvements.

Delayed cord clamping provides your baby with benefits including a normal healthy volume of blood for the transition to life outside the womb and a full count of red blood cells, stem cells, and immune cells. Delayed cord clamping for the mother keeps the mother-baby unit intact and can avoid complications with placenta delivery.

The advantages of delaying have been demonstrated, but it is not as clear how best to clamp the umbilical cord. Studies showed an advantage when the cord is clamped for up to one minute, with any advantages decreasing afterward. ACOG recommends that 30–60 seconds of delay can be done in clamping.

While the volume of cord blood available may be reduced by delays in clamping the cord, several studies have found that a reasonable delay can still retain enough for banking. Because the benefits of cord clamping begin to decrease after one minute and a constant delay can have an effect on the amount of cord blood extracted, it is advisable to the parents to follow ACOG recommendations and delay cord clamping for 30–60 seconds.

Even if the volume is low, the cord blood of your baby may still be used in regenerative medicine. Furthermore, scientists are working on ways to significantly multiply the number of stem cells found in a cord blood collection, enabling the use of smaller stored units in the future to have a greater effect.

If you choose to delay the cord clamping by 1-3 minutes, it will transfer approximately 80-100 mL of this blood to the infant, leaving more than enough to be stored. Studies have shown that delayed clamping has no significant effect on the efficiency of collection. While there was a slight reduction in the amount of blood collected, the recovery of stem cells is not affected.

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Umbilical cord was at first discovered in 1974, as the main source of hematopoietic stem cells as well as the progenitor cells. The first transplantation of the umbilical cord was done in 1988 for the treatment Fanconi Anemia in France. Earlier the tissues of the umbilical cord were considered as a waste but in the past decade, it has been seen that these tissues can be used for deriving mesenchymal stem cells, from various compartments of the umbilical cord. These compartments are the intervascular, perivascular, subendothelial layer of blood vessels and sub-amniotic zones of Wharton’s jelly. The main disadvantage is the transient nature of the tissue of the Umbilical cord as it is only available for a short time of period after postpartum. However, cryopreservation can be used for the preservation of umbilical cord and its components. Here you can get the details about the cryopreservation of the different types of umbilical cord vessels.

Cryopreservation of Umbilical Cord-derived Vessel

The UC blood vessels are cut off in an appropriate diameter without any branches. It makes the UC derived vessels as the most effective for the cryopreservation. The process of cryopreservation of the umbilical cord does not infer the preservation of the components of the cell. So, the medium of cryopreservation is composed up off saline solution. The cryopreservation of the cord blood vessels can be preserved in the walls of blood vessels.

Cryopreservation of Wharton’s Jelly

Wharton’s jelly is a gelatinous substance which cannot be found in the human body after the birth. It helps in protecting the blood vessels and provides flexibility to the cord. It consists of a huge amount of growth factors and components of the extracellular matrix as collagen, sulfated glycosaminoglycans, and hyaluronic acid.

Cryopreservation of the UC Cellular Component

The storage of sperm on dry ice was first started in the year 1953. After that, the dry ice was replaced by liquid nitrogen for long term storage of the sperm. The process of cryopreservation allows preservation in both suspensions as well as whole tissue fragmentation. Contemporary cryopreservation technologies support the long-term preservation of the cells that can preserve the adipose tissue, follicle tissue, fragments of bone marrow, ovarian and testicular tissues after thawing. The umbilical cord tissue must be processed before the storage so that it can reduce the time, expenses of the material help in storing the cells in natural environments, and the cells can be isolated as well as expanded as per requirements.

Prospects of Umbilical Cord Banking

UC derived cells are needed for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, failures of skeletal muscles, neurological autoimmune disorders. So, there is a huge demand for the preservation of the blood vessels, cellular component, and WJ. The effectiveness of obtaining cells from the thawed tissues of the umbilical cord is mainly affected by the cryoprotectant medium, protocol for isolation of cells and the mode of freezing.

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Cord blood is the blood that is found in the umbilical cord of the baby. The umbilical cord helps to create a connection between the mother and the child for passing various types of nutrients from the mother to the baby. In the past, the umbilical cord was thrown away because it was treated as a waste. However, after the discovery of the regenerative medicine, most of the parents are willing to store the cord blood of their babies at the cord blood unit or to a cord blood bank.

The process of collecting the cord blood from the umbilical cord is very simple. At first, the blood is extracted from the umbilical cord by the help of a needle from the cord that is attached to the placenta. Then the blood is collected into a bag that comes with the collection kit. It was then sent to the laboratory for the processing which must be done within the timeframe of 72 hours. The sample is then tested at the laboratory and is frozen.

Cord blood contains stem cells which include blood stem cells, skin stem cells and rest of the body cells. These cells help to regenerate the tissues of the body so the cord blood can be referred to as a medicine that can be used for the regeneration of the tissues. Cord blood is now approved by DCGI that it can be used for treating more than 80 diseases. The diseases that can be treated by cord blood are leukemia, metabolic disorders, anemia, tumor and orthopedic disturbances. It has also been discovered that cord blood is helpful in various kinds of untreatable diseases such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease and cerebral palsy.

The immune system of our body is designed in such a way so that it can detect the foreign cells in our body and remove or destroy them. The cord blood that is taken from the umbilical cord is always a proper match for the baby. Also, the immediate family members such as siblings, parents along with uncles, aunts and grandparents are also having the possibility of getting a match.
The cord blood bank sends a collection kit, that is taken by the expected parents to the center of delivery. During the birth, the umbilical cord is cut in a normal procedure and the blood is collected by the healthcare provider. The collection kit is taken by a member of the umbilical cord bank who was present at the birth center.

There are different methods of processing of the cord blood that leads to the purification of the cord blood before the preservation of the final product. Once the cells are being isolated and are extracted from the RBCs and plasma. They are then mixed with the cryoprotectant and are stored in a cryo-bag by a process known as controlled freezing. This process is done for the long-term preservation of cells so that they can be used in future for the treatment of various kinds of untreatable diseases.

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Umbilical cord blood plays a potent role in treating life-threatening ailments like sickle cell anaemia, lymphoma, leukaemia and the like. Today, over 25,000 patients round the globe have had cord blood transplants since their parents had a long-term vision that made them donate the child’s umbilical cord blood to a prominent cord blood bank.

In fact, most ace doctors and health experts suggest that cord blood must be preserved until there’s need of it. Medical science presently believes that cord blood can be preserved for an indefinite time, so that it can be of use for several generations. Stem cell transplants having 40 years as the average age, the longer the cord tissue and cord blood is stored, the maximum will be its use. And this where the accreditation process ties in!

Who Manages the Cord Blood Banking Facilities?

Simply put, the cord blood banks get regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is essential for all cord blood banks to register their name with the FDA and welcome the recurrent inspections and adhere to the regulations listed by this body. Furthermore, there are several other cord blood banks, comprising of the Core 23 BioBank, that willingly place themselves for other additional regulation under reputed accrediting bodies such as FACT and AABB.

Recently, AABB accreditation is considered to be the standard or key to cord blood transplant globally, where about 70% of the AABB accredited cord blood banks are located outside of U.S. As an authorized and authentic accrediting organization for cellular therapies and transfusion medicine round the word, the AABB gives a patient ear to the stories from various members of blood banks, hospitals and other bodies. Listening, it is said is a vital aspect of AABB’s accreditation process and programme.

As a group of AABB assessor approach an organization, basic checklists aren’t what they depend on! On the other hand, their key responsibility is to enquire, observe, gather data, build connections and provide a direct feedback on the organization’s accomplishments in catering to AABB’s technical and quality management par. Other than the formal reviewing process, there’s a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing process that takes place along with other discussions related to the best practices. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the accreditation programme of AABB is accredited by International Society for Quality in Healthcare, a notable global organization that oversees and accredits accrediting bodies.

In fact, back in 2016 it a Dubai based AABB accredited cord blood bank successfully delivered a life-saving treatment of a 7-year-old boy, by providing stem cells that has been obtained from the umbilical cord blood that was saved 3 years before the birth of his sibling. This 7-year-old boy, who’s the elder brother, was diagnosed with major beta thalassemia, which is a blood disorder that might require daily blood transfusions and in a lifetime, can branch out into other various serious health hazards and ailments.

There are several reasons why AABB accreditation is considered the best practice for cord blood transplant. This accreditation programme makes use of a risk-solving approach that needs a meticulous evaluation by an AABB assessor to be on-site, examining the facility’s policies, processes and procedure to discover any possible marks of non-conformity. At the time of this accreditation process, the institutions gain from customized help rendered by a technical specialist at the AABB’s accreditation department. It is this specialist who in turn guides and assists the institutions and its team members on the accreditation process, giving answers to required queries and authenticating procedure followed and documents maintained. The verification process is strict, so that cord blood transplant taking place from the cord blood bank poses no health hazards and other discomforts.

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Stem cells have been the reason for so many successful clinical trials for decades. It has not only been proven effective for more than 80 diseases and disorders, but it has also been responsible for various miraculous stories. Lucy Hinchion has such an inspiring story. She is the youngest child in medical history, who has received her own umbilical cord blood to stop or delay the occurrence of Type 1 diabetes. And she was just 20 months old, when the procedure was conducted on her.

How Does Type 1 Diabetes Occur in Children?

The occurrence of Type 1 diabetes begins with autoantibodies. These are proteins that are made by the immune system of our body. If the protein is present in anyone blood, it suggests that the beta cells in the pancreas that help produce insulin, are affected. The entire process might lead to an autoimmune attack. Some of these autoantibodies can be traced during the blood months while some are found years before the diabetes occurs.

Umbilical cord blood is a rich source of stem cells but at the same time it’s the most difficult to collect. It can only be collected after child birth from the umbilical cord of the new born. For this reason, parents need to contact a private cord blood bank to store the umbilical cord blood immediately after birth. Even a one day’s delay cannot be considered.

The procedure is entire safe both for the mother and the child. Once the cord blood is collected, it needs to go through a clinical process to isolate the stem cells from the immune cells. These stem cells are unique in nature. They have the potential to repair and replace damaged tissues and organs. And once stored, these stem cells can be utilized in any transplant of any family member.

Lucy’s mother, Sonya Hinchion also hoped that once they store Lucy’s umbilical cord blood, they would be able to safe Lucy’s elder sister, Ava’s life, who was suffering from Type 1 diabetes since four years of age. However, little did she know that Lucy would require those stem cells more than anyone else. After testing, Sonya found out that Lucy was positive for two antibodies and that posed her at high risk of developing the condition more than anyone. Sonya recalled, “After testing positive for two antibodies herself, Lucy became at high risk of developing the condition.”

Regarding the transplant, Sonya confirmed that it was a pretty simple and straightforward procedure. She said, “You’re putting all your eggs in one basket but without doing this trial and without putting yourself out there, we’re never going to learn. The other risk is, she develops diabetes and you’ll kick yourself for not trying.” Professor Maria Craig, the head of the CORD study, follows Lucy every 3 to 6 months and would keep up the follow up session for the next 3 years.

Over 100 Australian children, who have a history of Type 1 diabetes in their family, are being screened by the Cord Reinfusion in Diabetes (CORD) study currently. According to a report, “More than 100 Australian children with a family history of Type 1 diabetes are currently being screened in the Cord Reinfusion in Diabetes (CORD) study, conducted through the hospital’s Kids Research Institute and funded by cord blood bank Cell Care Australia.”

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We all know that autism cannot be cured. But Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development researchers have found a way to alleviate the symptoms of autism, thereby offering a better life for children with the condition. And the key to this therapy lies within their own umbilical cord blood stem cells.

The researchers at the Duke conducted a study to find out if the symptoms of autism can be lowered down in degree by infusing blood, derived from their own umbilical cord. They have published their findings in April 2017 and since then it has all the media attention.

The trial involved 25 children between 2 and 6. Geraldine Dawson, director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development confirmed that all the children have displayed improvement in terms of the autistic symptoms. Dawson mentioned, “We measured the children’s social and communication abilities using various tests and parent questionnaires. We found that the infusion was safe and many children showed improvements in their social and language skills.”¹

In this study, the children received stem cells from their own umbilical cord blood. After the infusion, their improvements were being monitored thoroughly. The doctors found that the infusion was completely safe for the children. After one year, these children were called for another round of tests in order to measure their further improvements.

Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, the professor in the department of pediatrics, said that the process is entirely new to them. Dawson said that the study is still at its nascent stage, as they don’t have any standard comparison factor to compare the effectiveness of the therapy for autism, as there was no control group of autistic children involved in the study to compare the results. Dawson added, “Because there was no comparison group in this study, we don’t yet know whether the improvements we observed were because of the cord blood. As much as we’re hopeful that this is helping, we don’t want to prematurely make claims that haven’t been confirmed.”²

After the successful Phase I, the team is ready to start with Phase II trial, which is expected to be completed in two years. Unlike the Phase I, the second Phase will include a blind control group, where children will get a placebo infusion. Moreover, the Phase II will involve 165 children with autism.

Dawson said that the children will be divided into two groups. One group will receive umbilical cord blood stem cells and another group will receive a placebo. The groups will be switched after six months and the children will receive the opposite therapy. This will enable to researchers to find out the effectiveness of stem cell therapy for autism. Kurtzberg added, “There is a remodeling of certain abnormal brain connections [by the microglia], which then results in decreasing symptoms of autism.”³

Though the first trial showed immense improvements in the children, the team is still hesitant to call it a full-proof therapy for treating autism symptoms.  They will be able to answer all the unanswered questions after the comparative Phase II. Kurtzberg added, “At the conclusion of [the Phase II] study, we’ll be able to answer the question about whether cells are effective.”⁴ 

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Have you ever imagined how a unit of umbilical cord blood can treat your child’s hearing problem? As stated by Dr. James Baumgartner, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Florida Children’s Hospital, umbilical cord blood stem cells can be used to treat several critical conditions among children. With regards to treating acquired hearing loss in children, he had confirmed that acquired hearing loss can be treated with autologous umbilical cord blood stem cells.

Acquired hearing loss is a devastating condition in children, which does not remain present at the time of birth but acquired later. It’s believed that half of the children, suffering from the illness, received it from their genetics while half acquired it due to external factors like too much of antibiotic exposure, prematurity, and recurrent ear infections. And to make it worse, the severity of the condition is gradually progressive for many kids.

Dr. Baumgartner explained how a child learns to speak while hearing from others. He told that it takes 12 months of normal auditory input for a child to speak. During this period, a child’s brain develops an understanding of spoken language. If the child does not get exposed to auditory input for 18 months, the chances of speech is bleak. If he remains deprived of sound for over 3.2 years, he is probably never going to speak. That is the reason that acquired hearing loss is considered a critical condition in children.

Wondering what factor leads to acquired hearing loss? Well, there is an organ, called corti, which is located in the inner ear and is considered the microphone of our body. Our auditory nerve fibers are situated just beneath the hair cells in corti. And its main function is to pass signals to our brain. The loss of hair cells in the organ of corti leads to acquired hearing loss.

The most-practiced treatments to treat acquired hearing loss in kids are cochlear implants and hearing aids. However, both of these solutions only address the symptoms and don’t provide any cure. Now let’s come to how stem cells can treat acquired hearing loss. Researchers believe that umbilical stem cells can regenerate new hair cells in the organ of corti, which are responsible for hearing loss.

A trial, inspired by a Duke University research with 30 patients, suffering from acquired hearing loss, shows that cord blood transplants can be a treatment for sensorineural hearing loss due to mucopolysaccharidosis. The findings demonstrate that hearing loss can be easily measured. The unit is called ABR that is a count of functioning hair cells. If the transplant shows an improvement in ABR, it suggests the functioning hair cells are growing in number. In a previous trail, human umbilical cord blood stem cells were used to treat hearing loss in a mice model, which resulted in replacement of hair cells. Baumgartner added, “There was a pretty significant improvement. In particular if the stem cell transplant was done before 25 months of age.”

The current Phase 1 clinical trial is done with 10 kids between 6 weeks and 6 years, who have suffered from of hearing loss for less than 18 months. Baumgartner, even though not allowed to talk about the results until the final findings come in, said, “I can say the results from that Duke paper is something we are encouraged by.”

We will await the results and hope it will change many children’ lives.

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Cord blood is the richest source of stem cells and is derived from the blood of a new born baby’s umbilical cord. Stem cells are used in various clinical processes these days. Once collected and preserved, the cord blood stem cells have the healing power to treat many diseases by growing new tissues, blood vessels and even organs. They are collected and stored in various cord blood banks, so that they can be used later. There are a number of assumptions and misconception about cord blood banking. If you too have any questions or doubts about cord blood banking, this blog will help you a lot.

Cord blood banking involves three stages.

Collection

Cord blood is derived right after child birth and before the placenta is delivered. The blood is collected after the cord is clamped and cut. So, the process is entirely safe and painless for both the mother and the child. The procedure can be applied in both vaginal and C-section cases.

The process is so quick that often new mothers remain unaware of the collection. Parents can donate their baby’s cord blood to any cord blood bank, so those who need it, can use it later. New parents can even pay to store their baby’s cord blood to treat any of their family members’ diseases. However, before the delivery, blood samples of the mother are collected and tested for any infection.

Processing

Cord blood remains healthy and intact for up to 72 hours of collection. After it reached the bank, it gets tested and processed within 72 hours to ensure the highest recovery chances. Along with the maternal blood, the cord blood is also tested for any infections. In the next step, the cord blood sample is processed to separate the stem cells from the plasma and the red blood cells. This way, the stem cells are gathered from cord blood.

Preservation: Once the technicians get the stem cells, they proceed to preserve it. The preservation process involves freezing at a very low temperature, so that the stem cells remain intact without any side effects like ageing. This way, the stem cells can be preserved for decades.

There are two types of cord blood bank: Public and Private.

Public Cord Blood Bank

These banks collect cord blood by donations. Parents willingly donate the cord blood for patients, seeking a stem cell transplant or clinical researches. Anyone can choose to store their baby’s cord blood in the public banks and there are no charges involved. However, once donated, these cord blood cannot be reserved for family treatments.

Private Cord Blood Bank

Sometimes new parents decide to store the cord blood of their new born, so that it can be used to treat any diseases of the family members or even the baby in the long run. If you have more than one child, the siblings can use each other’s cord blood for surgeries. However, it’s recommended to store cord blood, each time a baby is born.

Use of cord blood has increased drastically in the past few decades. With more researches involving stem cells, the demand for cord blood will only grow. And cord blood banks play a pivotal role in this entire procedure and how!

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Your baby in the womb is made of millions of tiny stem cells, which are the building blocks of life. As the baby develops, these cells grow as the baby’s skin, nose, hair, heart, etc. At birth, a reserve of these miracle cells remains in the baby’s umbilical cord. Progressive modern medicine has established that the umbilical cord is no longer a medical waste to be discarded. If preserved at the time of birth, these stem cells may well secure your baby and family’s health in the future.

There are primarily two types of stem cells found in the umbilical cord – hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Red and white blood cells are formed by HSCs that in turn has the unique ability to treat rare blood disorders like leukemia.

Here’s a Little Background on MSCs

Dr. Alexander Friedenstein discovered the existence of MSCs in 1968 and it took another 6 years to isolate the first MSCs from the human body. 1995 saw the start of a number of clinical trials which in today’s date have reached to approximately 344 as registered investigating treatment methodologies for diabetes, spinal cord injuries, etc.

MSCs have been extracted by scientists and doctors from bone marrow, adipose tissue, fetal liver, muscle, lung, and the umbilical cord tissue. Out of these, MSCs isolated from the umbilical cord has the most significance because of the availability of highest concentrations of the stem cells that has conserved the nature of early embryonic cells. MSCs in the umbilical cord are available both in the cord blood and tissue from Wharton’s jelly which is a jellylike element inside the umbilical cord that comprises of several cells from quite a few stem cell genes.

So What Makes the MSCs as Important?

MSCs play a significant role in the development of muscle cells, bone cells, cartilage cells, and fat cells. Grabbing headlines in the domain of regenerative medicine, MSCs are important for the following reasons:

• With the ability to differentiate and multiply into limited cell types, these are naturally unspecialized cells that possess gene activation capability.
• These cells may be utilised in multiple ways during treatment and therapy due to their distinct ability to regenerate.
• Under favourable conditions, HSCs can be transformed and manipulated into various cell types even outside of a living organism.
• HSCs are able to control immune cells and operations.
• To aid in the recovery of impaired cells, HSCs secrete multiple bioactive molecules.
• They linger in the spot of inflammation after the injury of tissue in the body.

Hence, The Future of MSCs

Both HSCs and MSCs from a newborn’s umbilical cord can be collected, processed, and stored for future use.  There are no risks to you or your baby,  or ethical issues to collect them.  Today, HSCs from cord blood are being banked by an increasing number of expectant parents. Many are also banking MSCs in the hopes that clinical trials exploring their use in treating Autism, Cerebral Palsy, burns, and over 350 other diseases will lead to more medical breakthroughs. Although the research for MSCs is there, they are not yet FDA approved in the United States. However, in other parts of the world they are becoming a part of regular medical practices. It is not a matter of if MSCs will do the same in the United States but, when.

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Ever wondered if there is a relationship between your umbilical cord and the belly button? Of course, there is! When you have your little one inside your womb, it needs a life-support system to survive the pregnancy gestation period. This support is comprised of the placenta, the umbilical cord and the amniotic sac filled with amniotic fluid.

“The baby’s life hangs by a cord”, as said by Ian Donald, aptly tells the importance of the umbilical cord.

The umbilical cord plays the essential role of attaching your baby to the placenta and keeps feeding your baby. During delivery, the placenta is expelled from your uterus through a process known as the after-birth. The umbilical cord, once your baby is delivered is clamped and cut. The remaining section of the cord heals and later becomes the baby’s belly button.

Nevertheless, most are aware of these common facts. But there are some really fun insights that you probably never thought about:

Umbilical Cords Vary in Length

The lengths of the umbilical cords of babies are variable. However, there is no concrete evidence to ascertain why the length varies at all. Within the full gestation period of 28 weeks, the cord may reach its full length which usually is between 45-60 centimeters in length. In a small percentage of pregnancies, the cord is less than 45 centimeters in length and investigative studies have shown that placenta retention and C-section is usually higher in such instances.

Tangles, Knots, and Loops

Babies in the womb are constantly moving around. A common game that they indulge in is playing ‘loop the loop’ with the cord. If the baby is healthy and the cord remains intact, it does not really pose any risk to the baby. Approximately 35% of the babies born have the umbilical cord wrapped around their necks and 1% of them have the cord in a true knot.

It Stops Working When Needed

In the womb, the umbilical cord remains in a temperature controlled environment. Post the baby’s birth, the cord is exposed to cooler air and the ‘Wharton’s Jelly’ within it starts to harden and shrink. Natural clamping occurs that squeezes and closes the blood vessels inside the cord. Depending on the temperature outside of the mother’s body, natural clamping takes approximately between 3 and 20 minutes.

The Umbilical Cord Tissue is Full of Potential

Most of us have heard about cord blood stem cells but the new research that has everyone’s attention is on umbilical cord tissue. Many ongoing clinical trials have brought significant evidence forward that the cord blood tissue also contains stem cells that possess the potential to multiply and transform into various cell types, like cartilage, bone, fat, etc. This essentially means that the cord tissue with more stem cells can potentially be used in treating more conditions and disorders.

As Nancy Reagan rightfully said, “Now science has presented us with a hope called stem cell research, which may provide our scientists with many answers that have for so long been beyond our grasp.” 

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The Kumar family from India found out that their 18-month-old daughter was suffering from Thalassemia, a serious genetically inherited blood disorder that severely hinders the body’s capability to generate hemoglobin. Due to this lack of hemoglobin in the body, adequate oxygen and nutrients do not reach the body’s tissues ultimately resulting in anemia. The typical course of therapy available to Thamirabharuni Kumar was monthly blood transfusions for the rest of her life.

This would at least supply her body with healthy amounts of hemoglobin. The doctor overseeing Thamirabharuni’s treatment suggested to her parents to consider the option of having a second child. With more and more scientific evidence pointing towards the greater success of umbilical cord blood transplants in the case of thalassemia patients, it was worth giving a shot. Sibling’s umbilical cord blood stem cells have a 75% chance of being the perfect donor match which is critical in executing the transplant. Without a perfect donor match especially in stem cell therapies, it may reduce the risk of rejection or graft-versus-host disease.

Post five months after conception, doctors performed extensive in-utero testing on the fetus in order to determine that the baby in the womb had not inherited thalassemia too. Another series of testing ensued that finally allowed the team of doctors to ascertain that the sibling was a perfect donor match for his sister.

The transplant was performed at Apollo Speciality Hospital in Chennai by a team of doctors. Whilst the transplant was a success, Thamirabharuni would have to take immune-suppressing drugs for one year. There existed a possibility that she would be vulnerable to infections due to this. Additionally, there also was the probability of her developing graft versus host disease, although having a perfect match from a sibling reduces this risk significantly. Over time, the risks of rejection and of graft versus host disease will decrease.

When asked about her experience, Thamirabharuni said, “When they used the needles for blood transfusion it would hurt and sometimes they would never get the vein but still I had to go for blood transfusion every month.” She added, “My brother’s cord blood saved me or I knew I wouldn’t have been alive for long. I love my brother.”

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Do not be alarmed by the small stump left over after cutting the umbilical cord. It will be gone in a few days’ time.

When you hold your lovely little infant in your arms for the first time, nothing can prepare you for the rush of love you feel for your baby. Your child’s beautiful face, perfect fingers and toes, his cute and chubby arms…your baby is just flawless. Then your eyes travel down to a little stump of what looks like pale flesh hanging off his navel, and you wince.

You quickly realise that this stump is actually the part of the umbilical cord that was cut after delivery. It is a mass of soft tissue that comprises the cord; this umbilical cord provided nutrition to your baby and helped discharge his waste while you were carrying him in your womb. Once your child was born, the doctor snipped off the umbilical cord and told you that a stump of it would remain attached to your baby’s body and fall off in about two weeks.

From an initial pale colour and slight moistness, the stump soon becomes drier and darker in colour. It may become brown or even black and become progressively shrivelled.[1] This is normal – the stump is now deprived of blood and nutrition, and it is not needed anymore since your baby derives nutrition directly from breastfeeding. Within two weeks, the stump will fall off naturally. This indicates that the navel has healed.

Some important points to note in umbilical cord care are:

* The stump must be kept dry and clean at all times. Avoid applying any creams or even water on the area. Let it dry and fall off on its own.

* Give your baby sponge baths till the stump falls off, avoid bathtubs or bucket baths till then. Do not let the sponge touch the stump or the surrounding area. Separately clean the skin around the stump with a wet cotton swab and gently wipe with a soft cloth.

* Do not put your baby’s diaper over the stump; it might hurt the baby and cause an infection.

* If you notice bleeding from the stump or a sticky, smelly discharge, inform your doctor at once. These are signs of infection.

* However, the navel might be slightly wet after the stump has fallen off. Leave it alone and do not wipe off. The area will dry up on its own in a week’s time. Alert your doctor if it does not.

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Cord blood stem cells were first used in a transplant in 1988 and have since been used to treat more than 80 diseases. You can know more about the diseases it can be used to treat in the list provided by ‘Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood’[1]. To-be parents often make a host of preparations in order to keep their child safe such as emptying electric sockets, child-proofing cabinets and much more. Umbilical cord cell storage is also a safety net or insurance that can help to protect your child’s life in future.

Benefits of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Banking

Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells. Stem cells have the potential to reproduce themselves and also to turn into any other type of cells. The stem cells in umbilical cord blood are Haematopoietic stem cells that can build and replenish the body’s blood and immune system. These cells can differentiate into blood vessels, immune-system cells, bone cartilage, muscle cells, blood cells and nerve cells.

Cord Blood Stem Cells vs. Bone Marrow Stem Cells

Umbilical cord stem cell storage is a simple non-invasive process and is completely harmless to the mother or the baby. On the other hand, extracting stem cells from the bone marrow is an invasive procedure and also requires general anaesthesia which comes with its own set of inherent risks. Matching stem cells are necessary for a transplant procedure so as to increase the chances of the body accepting the transplant. Umbilical cord blood cells will be a lifetime match for your child and a 25% to 50% partial match to a sibling. These cord blood cells can also be used to treat other family members as genetically matching stems cells result in higher chances of successful transplants with fewer complications.

Umbilical cord blood cells have a high rate of engraftment or in other words have a high rate of replication of transplanted cells in the host. These cells also have a low rate of graft versus host diseases i.e. the transplanted cells attacking the host body. These cells are also free of latent viruses which is why they are also termed as “privileged” when compared to bone marrow cells.

The Advantages of Umbilical Cord Cell Storage

Cord blood cells are readily used to replenish the immune system after chemotherapy or radiation. Chemotherapy or radiation not only destroys the bad cells but also destroys the good cells. Stem cell therapy helps to replicate the good cells or the disease-free cells in such patients. Apart from being used in treatment of cancers such leukaemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, cord blood cells are also being researched for the treatment of degenerative diseases.

If you are parents-to-be and have not decided upon umbilical cord cell storage, then it’s time you give it a thought to insure your baby’s future health.

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The umbilical cord is a precious resource of stem cells. Mothers-to-be should be made cognisant of the benefits of cord blood before they head into labour.

The successful treatment of several serious diseases is the subject of several realms of research and hours of laboratory testing the world over. Doctors and scientists are grappling with the challenge of finding the ultimate cure to a host of disorders plaguing humans. These include a variety of cancers on one hand and autism on the others.

Hearteningly, there is a way to cure 80 serious disorders and diseases using nature’s simplest remedy: cord blood. The umbilical cord is the biggest and richest source of cord blood among humans. It is relatively easy to collect cord blood after the birth of the baby, and it is a non-invasive procedure that does not harm the mother or the child.

The umbilical cord is composed of the umbilical vein and umbilical arteries that lie within Wharton’s Jelly, a gelatinous thick substance that protects the cord and keeps it supple[1]. The arteries and vein are responsible for the supply and outflow of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood to the baby.

Umbilical cord blood cells are a rich source of haematopoietic stem cells, which can be used to produce red blood cells. Apart from the bone marrow, the umbilical cord blood and even the placenta are rich sources of stem cells.

Unfortunately, the awareness about the benefits of stem cells arising from umbilical cord blood is not as widespread in India as it should be. That cord blood and the stem cells therein can cure a host of diseases in the future is a powerful argument for cord blood collection. If one’s child develops a serious ailment in the future, cord blood cells can actually come to the rescue even at a later stage.

As per a news report in Time magazine, “Experts estimate that 99% of this potentially lifesaving resource gets thrown away postpartum. Unlike the stem cells in human embryos, which can morph into any kind of cell in the body, the stem cells in cord blood have their futures largely mapped out, as blood, brain, liver or heart-muscle cells, for example.”[2]

At the moment, doctors are using cord blood to treat people suffering from sickle-cell anaemia, immunodeficiency disorders, cancer, bone marrow failure and genetic ailments that require transplants.

Umbilical cord stem cells can be used for both autologous and allogeneic transplants and therapy. However, cord blood cannot be used in all autologous treatments. Cord blood stem cells are said to be biologically younger and more flexible than adult stem cells taken from the bone marrow.[3]

[1] ‘Definition of Wharton’s Jelly’, www.medicinenet.com

[2]Rochman, Bonnie, ‘New postpartum trend: Mailing in your cord blood’, Time,

July 26, 2010

[3]FAQs, Cord Blood Registry, http://www.cordblood.com

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