Why didn’t someone tell me about storing my baby’s stem cells?
As a mother of a child with complex health issues I’ve felt helpless at times. I want to take every feeling of pain, uncertainty and disadvantage his condition causes away from him. In short, I guess I just want to do the best by him and his brothers. I would have liked to have known about the option of storing cord blood and tissue.
For those of you who are unaware as I was, cord blood is the blood that remains in the placenta after a baby has been born and the umbilical cord has been cut. Umbilical cord blood and tissue are rich in powerful stem cells and can only be collected at birth for potential future use.
Stem cells are being used now for medical treatments in place of bone marrow transplants and everyday there is new and exciting research looking into more uses for the future. I’ve read in the last month alone studies on type 1 diabetes, cerebral palsy, autism and Parkinson’s disease.
As parents all we want is the information to help us make educated decisions that are in the best interests of our children. So much is left to chance when it comes to raising kids, but if thanks to science we can put what one day may be considered a "miracle” in the bank I want to know about that option. So I decided to write this article to help raise awareness for parents-to-be. Most expectant Mum’s are in the same boat as me and are not aware of the option to store their baby’s cord blood and tissue stem cells.
