During pregnancy, the umbilical cord functions as a lifeline between mother and child. After a baby’s delivery, the cord blood present in the umbilical cord can be preserved which can treat the family for over 80 Life Threatening diseases. Here is a list of treatable diseases through Cord Blood Banking.
Immediately after the delivery of your baby, the cord is clamped and your baby separated from the cord and moved from the birthing area. The doctor then collects the umbilical cord blood by inserting a needle into the cord vein, and draining the blood into a blood bag. This procedure is painless and risk-free.
Moinam
Moinam was diagnosed Thalassemia when he was barely one year old. If left untreated, most of the children inflicted with this disorder do not live beyond the age of 10. Fortuitously, his newborn sister was free from Thalassemia and her cord blood stem cells were a perfect match for Moinam, with small amount of bone marrow to supplement the transplant, Moinam is now in his recovery phase.
"We decided to use a mixture of bone marrow and cord blood cells as it has a better and faster chance of success than only bone marrow cells. Bone marrow stem cells, on the other hand, could lead to Graft Versus Host Disease, triggered by the body's defense mechanism while the transfusion is being done. Not only increase the stem cell count, but also reduce the chance of any complications. It is the treatment of choice in such cases and leads to a complete cure," explained Dr Mukherjee, Medical Director of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Cancer Research Institute.