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At the end of the day, anything you can do to raise awareness of the benefits of cord blood banking will help. What are you waiting for?
Sources: (National Today) (NHS) (Vice)
See also: The benefits of blood donation and the celebs who support it
You might also like to form your own campaign, perhaps by writing something or posting on social media. It's about getting the word out and spreading awareness.
There is also the option to store a baby’s cord and placenta blood with a private bank, so the parents can access and harvest it, should their child become ill.
If you want to encourage cord blood banking or help out in other ways, fortunately there are many things you can do, even if you don't have a medical background.
The public banks are connected by an international registry and doctors from all over the world can access it to treat their patients.
In the United States, parents can donate their baby’s cord blood to a public bank free of charge, provided that they understand they will not necessarily have access to it if they need it.
For starters you might like to volunteer at a hospital where there is a cord blood bank. This will help you better understand the procedure and any related problems.
This is despite the fact that cord blood donation is pain-free (the blood is extracted directly from the umbilical cord) and can be done for free.
However, awareness about cord blood banking is low. In the United States, for example, cord blood is only collected 5-10% of the time.
Cord blood has also been used to cure bone marrow failure (when bone marrow doesn’t produce the cells it should) and immunodeficiencies (when the immune system doesn’t work properly).
As it stands, cord blood can be used to treat nearly 80 diseases, and that number only stands to rise as research develops.
There are also some metabolic disorders, which affect how waste products are broken down in the body, which have been cured by cord blood transplants.
Examples of diseases that cord blood has been shown to cure include cancers of the blood, such as leukemia or lymphoma, as well as blood disorders, such as sickle cell anemia or thalassemia.
Cord blood contains blood-producing stem cells, which, when given to someone in need of life-saving treatment, can develop into the type of cells that the patient needs.
Stem cells are sort of like ‘building block’ cells, i.e. cells that can develop into many different types of cells.
The term ‘cord blood’ refers to the blood that stays in the placenta and umbilical cord after the birth of a baby.
Most of the time, cord blood is discarded as medical waste after the baby is born. However, cord blood is actually very valuable and this is a terrible waste.
She decided to go for it after receiving a collection kit during her baby shower back in 2011. She has described it as a “proactive way of planning for the worst.”
They have previously spoken in public about the importance of banking cord blood, particularly for parents who have a family history of diseases.
Four-time Winter Olympics snowboarder Zoe Gillings-Brier announced in summer 2019 that she would bank the blood of her second child, just as she did with the first.
TV personality Giuliana Rancic and her husband also decided to bank after experiencing fertility problems and receiving a breast cancer diagnosis.
In fact, a number of famous athletes, including David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, have already opted for cord blood stem cells to treat their sports injuries.
In 2016, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys revealed on social media that he had banked his baby’s cord blood at a private bank.
A little-used term in everyday language, 'cord blood' refers to the blood that is stored in the placenta and umbilical cord after a child is born. Most of the time it is discarded straight after birth. In reality, however, cord blood is packed full of stem cells, which makes it very valuable in the fight against many diseases, including certain cancers and blood disorders.
Increasingly, new parents are opting to bank their baby's cord blood, either publicly or privately. That way it is there to help someone who may need it in the future.
We took a look at exactly what cord blood is, and the celebrity parents who have donated it. Check out this gallery to find out more.
Who are the celebrity parents banking cord blood?
Learn all about this valuable medical resource
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A little-used term in everyday language, 'cord blood' refers to the blood that is stored in the placenta and umbilical cord after a child is born. Most of the time it is discarded straight after birth. In reality, however, cord blood is packed full of stem cells, which makes it very valuable in the fight against many diseases, including certain cancers and blood disorders.
Increasingly, new parents are opting to bank their baby's cord blood, either publicly or privately. That way it is there to help someone who may need it in the future.
We took a look at exactly what cord blood is, and the celebrity parents who have donated it. Check out this gallery to find out more.