Cord Blood Registry: Harnessing the Power of Stem Cells

Being a mom in this day in age is pretty dang cool. Yes, there are some pretty high standards to attempt to meet, but modern medicine has afforded us luxuries that parents in the past would never have imagined possible. Like being able to potentially treat cancers with stem cells.

I would do anything in my power to keep my boys happy, healthy and thriving. These little humans are my world – my body kept them safe for 9 months, and now they’re out in this big world. Short of keeping them locked in bubbles for the rest of their lives, there is really no controlling what happens in their futures.

While unknowns are a given, there is something I can do to give them the best possible shot against a lot of scary possibilities. What is that? I can invest in their future health by banking cord blood with Cord Blood Registry!

Stem Cells

Today’s medical research is so advanced, that we have discovered the power of stem cells. In particular, the blood and cord tissue from your newborn’s umbilical cord, which contains stem cells. Research has shown that cord blood stem cells have helped to regenerate healthy blood and immune systems – how amazing is that?!

Researchers are studying whether these newborn’s stem cells can pinpoint injured cells in the body and start the healing process. Kind of like the original webMD, and research continues to see if these cells can act as the body’s own first aid kit!

Wait, you mean my baby could possibly help to heal himself later on in life? Possibly! And if baby has any siblings, there’s a good chance baby’s stem cells will be a partial or even perfect match.

What about the parents? Biological parents will always be a partial match!

Cord Blood & Stem Cells

You know after baby is born and respective parent has just finished cutting the umbilical cord? Cord blood is collected immediately after and drawn into a collection bag. These powerful cells in the cord blood have unique advantages such as less risk of certain complications when used in a stem cell transplant and, once preserved, are readily available if needed. Also, it is an incredible fact that they are being researched for use in the potential treatment of conditions that have no cure today.

If you think that’s amazing, wait until you hear about the umbilical cord tissue. The tissue is still in the earlier stages of discovery, but we know it contains several types of cells, all with different potential. Cord Blood Registry preserves the cord tissue as a whole material. This helps to ensure that all of the different cell types are preserved so as more is learned, your family may benefit from potential future uses of the cells inside.

Clinical trials studying the potential use of newborn stem cells in conditions like neurological injury are currently underway. How incredible is that?! And that in our lifetime, we may see conditions like heart disease, stroke, damaged organs and more potentially treated with newborn stem cells that normally get discarded at birth?!

How does it work?

CBR makes it super easy for you to preserve your newborn’s cord blood. To start, sign up with CBR online or on the phone. After enrolling, CBR will send your collection kit straight to you. You’ll open it up, fill everything out, and then store it until the big day at room temperature. When it’s Go Time for baby, just hand your birth team the kit, and they will take care of the collection process.

After you get sufficient newborn snuggles, give the CBR medical courier a call and someone will come to pick your kit up from you. They will also take care of transporting it back to CBR, so now all you have to do is relax, adjust to life with your new little bundle, and take parenthood in stride. CBR will let you know when your baby’s stem cells have been preserved in their new home.

Let’s do this!

Aging can have a negative effect on stem cells, so by preserving stem cells from your newborn’s cord blood, you are preserving them at their greatest potential. And in honor of July’s Cord Blood Awareness Month, Cord Blood Registry is making a donation for every enrollment to the Newborn Possibilities Fund!

This is one of the biggest regrets I have with the boys’ birth plans. We were planning on banking my first born’s, but due to circumstances outside of our control, we were unable to. I was consumed with worry during my pregnancy with J, and quite honestly could barely make future plans of any kind. Because of this, I was more focused on getting through the day-to-day and was shortsighted.

My husband and I have both agreed, however, that for any future children, cord blood banking will be a must on our list of to dos. Not just for their own potential benefit, but for the potential benefit of our family. Making a small investment now could be the exact reason why one of our sweet babies’ lives are saved in the future. That knowledge is powerful, and further drives home why cord blood banking is so important.

So head over to CBR’s website to learn more and start your journey with the largest, most experienced newborn stem cell bank, today.

Disclaimer: Cord tissue use is still in early research stages, and there is no guarantee that treatment using cord tissue will be available in the future.  Should such use become available, cord tissue will require additional processing prior to use.  CBR is currently evaluating the potential to isolate and prepare multiple cell types from cryopreserved cord tissue for potential future use.

Cbr Systems, Inc.’s activities for New York residents are limited to collection of umbilical cord tissue and long-term storage of umbilical cord-derived stem cells.  Cbr Systems, Inc.’s possession of a New York State license for such collection and long-term storage does not indicate approval or endorsement of possible future uses or future suitability of these cells.