Parents who are deciding whether to bank their baby’s cord blood have so many sources of information, but often don’t know what to believe.  While cord blood bank sites can be valuable sources of information, they are first and foremost developed to sell the company’s services so might be considered biased.  There is an unbiased source of information that can help parents to determine if cord blood banking is right for them.

The site is the Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood.  According to its mission statement, the site was developed to provide parents with impartial education about cord blood medical research and cord blood storage options.  This site is a great non-commercial resource for information about cord blood banking.

We are often asked by parents what happens if a physician does not know how to collect their baby’s cord blood.  While this is becoming less likely as more and more doctors gain experience with collection, it is still a concern for many patients.  The great thing is that parent’s don’t need to worry about this.  The collection kit comes with very specific instructions that can be followed easily by any medical professional.  In addition, M.A.Z.E. Cord Blood Laboratories has 24-7 medical assistance where a physician can speak to our medical staff for clarification if he has any questions or concerns.  Cord blood collection is easier than ever and as more and more physicians gain experience with cord blood collection, this question will no longer be an issue.

Parents often ask what happens if we lose their baby’s cord blood.  All our cord blood records are kept on a centralized secure computer system which is both backed up by our own server and kept off site in 2 separate locations.  Patient records are maintained according to the mother’s name and date of birth and contain in them, the exact location of the baby’s cord blood specimens in our liquid nitrogen tanks.

Additionally, the laboratory keeps a separate spreadsheet, also backed up (both on and off location), which maps the location of each liquid nitrogen freezer and the specimens stored in them.  They include the name and birthdate of every infant whose cord blood is stored at M.A.Z.E. Laboratories.

The bottom line is that it would be virtually impossible to lose track of a baby’s cord blood.

I read an interesting article on using cord blood to restore hearing.  A group of scientists in Italy are researching the use of stem cells to repair hearing loss due to cochlear damage. 

The scientists have shown that following transplantation of human umbilical cord blood stem cells, a small number of the cells migrated to the cochlear and repaired sensory hair cells and neurons. 

Here is a link to the full press release.

Parents frequently ask us if another family member can use the cord blood or if it is reserved solely for the baby.  The answer to that is very simple.  Since you are the person banking the cord blood, you own it.  You can provide it to anyone you wish.  If another family member is a match you can choose to give it to him.  Of course, the only person for whom the cord blood is likely to be a perfect match is the baby (or an identical twin).