Sakhi and her husband Rajesh are expecting a baby. She received a phone call from a private cord blood bank asking her if she would like to store her baby's umbilical cord blood after the baby was delivered. She has vaguely heard about this process and has learnt that one of her friends was going to have it done. She knows it is an expensive proposition. She and her husband have decided to ask their obstetrician about it.

What is umbilical cord blood banking?  

Once considered a waste product that was discarded with the placenta, umbilical cord blood is now known to be rich in potentially life-saving stem cells. When used for stem cell transplantation, umbilical cord blood offers several distinct advantages over bone marrow or peripheral stem cells.

In many parts of the world, including India, private companies have aggressively marketed the need for the storage of umbilical cord blood. The marketing definitely plays on the guilt of parents and grandparents who feel that if they do not store their baby's cord blood, they have not done something essential to safeguard the baby's future.

Public cord blood banks, like the one recently opened in Chennai, allow this valuable product to be stored and used by anybody, much like blood banks store units of blood which can be used to save anyone's life, not just the donor's.

How is cord blood collected?  

After the placenta has been removed from the uterus, the cord is cleaned and a needle is inserted into a cord blood vessel. About 60 to 120 millilitres of blood is obtained. Once the cord blood is collected, it is sent for testing and processing. Lab technicians run the blood through a battery of tests, extract the stem cells from the sample, and prepare the sample for the freezer, where the cells remain until they are needed.