Now Your Baby’s Umbilical Cord Is A Lifeline For Your Entire Family. Know How

It’s a joyous moment for couples when they discover that they are expecting a baby, but at the same time there is a huge responsibility on them to secure the health and future of the baby. From day one, most parents have a checklist in place which helps them plan their baby’s arrival better. In spite of being so well prepared, many expectant parents tend to miss out on an important step which could secure the future of the baby and the family too. Stem Cell banking is a process of collection of your baby’s umbilical cord stem cells and preserving it under cryogenic conditions for the treatment of several medical conditions in the future. The lack of awareness on the need and the use of stem cells, coupled with old superstitions deter expectant parents from considering it.

In the recent times, advancements in medical science has encouraged Indian parents to preserve their newborn’s umbilical cord blood for future usage. There are three options that parents can choose to preserve their baby’s umbilical cord stem cells:

  • Private Bank
  • Public Bank and
  • Community Stem cell Banking
In This Article

Private Stem Cell Banking

There are around 12 private stem cell banks in India where approximately a lakh samples are preserved annually. The stem cells preserved in these private banks can only be used for the baby and to some probability, the siblings. These banks guarantee the chance to have perfectly matched stem cells stored for future use. However, out of 80 approved medical conditions, the baby’s own cord blood stem cells can be used for less than 10 conditions like Neuroblastoma, Medulloblastoma, Retinoblastoma, etc. For over 70 conditions, the doctor may not be able to use baby’s own stem cells for a transplant even if it is available with the private bank in the best of quality. Under such circumstances, the baby will have to depend on stem cells from a healthy donor.

Public Stem Cell Banking

Currently in India, there are only two public stem cell banks. People voluntarily donate their child’s umbilical cord. Patients seeking stem cells for treatment can reach out to these banks and if a match is attained, the stem cells can be bought from the bank for a cost. The biggest challenge with Public stem cell banking is that, once the cord blood is donated, it cannot be reserved for your family and hence may not be available for your future use when required. The other source of obtaining matching stem cells is from a Bone Marrow registry where registered voluntary donors that are listed in a ‘Marrow Donor Registry. In India almost 70% of the patients are left in despair unable to find a match during need, owing to the lack of repository.

Community Stem Cell Banking

With the given challenges in both private and public stem cell banking, Community Cord Blood Banking provides a comprehensive solution that provides access to the baby’s preserved stem cells for its own use and also gives an access to donor stem cells by forming a pool of unrelated donor stem cell units. This system allows stem cells to be used not just for the baby but also for the sibling, parents and grandparents.

If your baby’s stem cells are being used by any other member of the community, here’s how you will continue to benefit:

  • You receive a refund of the payment made towards storage of your baby’s stem cells.
  • For treatment of conditions that require donor stem cells, the baby and the family can access the community bank for matching unit of stem cells
  • For treatment of conditions that require the baby’s own stem cells, they can be harnessed through other sources such as bone marrow or peripheral blood. Actor Lisa Ray who was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma a life threatening blood related cancer, was treated using her own peripheral blood and bone marrow stem cells for the treatment, considering there was no facility during her days to preserve her stem cells.

This is a game changer as 70% of the patients of Indian origin who don’t find a matching bone marrow donor would benefit immensely through community stem cell banking.

With increasing trend of parents preserving their baby’s stem cells, choosing community stem cell banking would help increase the inventory by more than 50,000 every year. By this, there is a >90% chance for patients in India to find a match if the inventory exceeds 2,50,000 units.

While we have the options on which stem cell bank to consider, it’s important that you choose a stem cell bank which ensures a 360 degree protection for your baby’s stem cells. Below are some pointers which we should consider while choosing a stem cell bank.

  • Accreditation and Experience:

It is important that you choose a stem cell bank which has wide industry experience, technology know-how, trained and experienced staff members who can collect and preserve the samples efficiently. Accreditation by renowned regulatory bodies are an important factor too.

  • Pricing:

Until few years back, stem cell banking was not an affordable option for most parents. But today stem cell banking is affordable with easy EMI options. Choose a bank, which will not only preserve your baby’s stem cell, but also care about your affordability.

  • High-tech laboratory and location:

One should choose a bank that is equipped with their own high-tech labs which ensures power back-up and generators, a monitoring system that ensures controlled environment 24X7 . The labs and storage rooms should be equipped to manage natural disasters such as flood, earthquakes etc. They must also be protected against fire.

  • Additional Sample and financial assistance during Transplantation

It’s important to also ensure you choose a stem cell bank which ensures additional sample assistance in case of transplant. You need a stem cell bank who can come to your rescue at the time of crisis. There are times that many families cannot afford treatment for transplant. During such cases, a stem cell bank which provides basic financial assistance comes as a relief.

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