Cord Blood Banking and the Childbearing Family

Once considered a waste product that was discarded with the placenta after birth, umbilical cord blood is now known to contain stem cells that can be used in the treatment of many life-threatening illnesses. These stem cells can be given to patients undergoing treatment for some diseases of the blood and immune system and certain inherited metabolic diseases in order to reconstitute the bone marrow. Because of this, banking of cord blood has become an option for pregnant patients at the time of delivery. Public banking involves the donation of the cord blood, free of charge. The cord blood would then be available for anyone to use. The National Marrow Donor Program oversees the cord blood stored and provides a searchable database for physicians who ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles