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Cord blood banking is standard practice in many countries but in Ireland it’s still relatively unheard of. Its not something I have ever disclosed before, not even go my friends, but we donated Amelia's cord blood after she was born. I first heard of it when I was pregnant with Amelia in London, and saw posters on the walls of my ante-natal clinic. After some enquiries and serious chats at home we made the decision to donate. If it helped someone else, then it was better off in a lab being harvest, rather than being put in a bin and incinerated. The irony of me donating Amelia's cord blood, is that I then post delivery also needed some help, in the form of 4 units of Red Blood Cells, something someone else had kindly donated and given up a an hour of their day in order to save someone else's life.
Umbilical cord blood can save lives.
So, what is cord blood banking? The term ‘cord-blood’ is used to describe blood that is drawn from the umbilical cord and the placenta after a baby is born. Up until recently this afterbirth was discarded as medical waste. Cord blood contains stem cells which may be frozen for later use in medical therapies such as stem cell transplantation or regenerative medicine.
Smart Cells have asked me to come on board and share an infograph they have recently created,with an overview of what stem cells are, why and how they're collected at birth, and what they can be used for in treatment of diseases and research. The goal is to dispel any myths and worries people have around stem cells, and to increase awareness of the positive effects of stem cell collection.
Over 40,000 people have successfully stored stem cells with Smart Cells, however the industry is still relatively unknown and often subject to misinformation. In a bid to increase awareness and understanding of stem cell collection at birth, Smart Cells have created an informative infographic.
People have been working with Smart Cells, a stem cell collection and storage company, since 2000 to store their stem cells for the future health of their child and family.
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