Umbilical Stem Cells

CBR Cord Blood Registry, Leading The Industry In Stem Cell Storage

Many new parents may be offered the chance to bank their baby's cord blood. But what is cord blood? Cord blood is nutrition-rich blood that is found in the umbilical cord following delivery of an infant. After the umbilical cord is clamped, then the blood that remains in the umbilical cord is shipped to a facility like CBR.

The CBR Cord Blood Registry is one of the largest blood banks with a strong history of stability. Here the cord blood will be stored for a life time in case the infant or possibly a family member develops a need for the blood.

Why is cord blood considered so nutritional? In this blood there are the basic building blocks of all cells in the body, called stem cells. These cells have the ability to become most any human body cell. By having labs like CBR Cord Blood Registry and Viacord retrieve these cells from the baby's umbilical cord and save them, you then have life-saving cells that have been used to treat a number of inherited as well as acquired medical disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. The only chance you have to save these cells is immediately following the delivery of your baby.

Although this seems, at least on the surface, to be a great idea, there have been many debates about the ethics and legal implications of stem cell usage. Many are concerned about how far stem cell treatments could reach. Currently this is a personal choice that one can make based on their personal value system.

The CBR Cord Blood Registry offers, to those interested, different options when saving cord blood. There is family banking which ensures the family access to the cord blood they banked. They offer a free program that allows the family of someone suffering from an ailment that is currently being treated with stem cells, to bank the cord blood free of charge. Parents can also chose to donate the cord blood to increase the amount of available stem cells for public use.

Regardless of your opinion, stem cells have been used to help many people in need, that otherwise could not be helped. CBR Cord Blood Registry and Viacord are two of the leading facilities in this area of medicine and have stored and sent out an innumerable amount of stem cells.

Because of blood banking many children that would have otherwise died from cancer, have been saved. Children that suffer from a brain injury from a traumatic delivery are being helped. These are some very positive ways in which stem cells have helped save lives.