I have experienced 27 months of pregnancy. Some good, a fair amount pretty rubbish actually. With pregnancy comes a lot of choices. You first of all (quite rightly in my opinion) get to choose whether to stay pregnant. You decide on how you plan to give birth, what kind of pain relief you might like (top tip: all of it) and you get to decide on a whole host of other things along the way. Some of it is important, some not so much. Nobody really talks about the umbilical cord though.
In all of those 27 months though not one medical professional ever mentioned umbilical cords and stem cell research. There wasn’t even a pamphlet anywhere as far as I can remember.
It was introduced to me by another Mum. One who was in the same Facebook due in group because we happened to be due to give birth at the same time – incidentally if you are pregnant and reading this, and you haven’t already, go and search on facebook for your own due in group. It’s a great way to find a tribe and trust me during those 3am feeds you will want your tribe. She happened to mention in passing that she intended to donate her umbilical cord for research.
About Stem Cell Collection
I had no idea but there are companies you can use who bank the cord blood from your babies umbilical cord for potential use later if needed. Considering that this is a non invasive procedure and could have monumental benefits I wonder why it isn’t something which is talked about more readily?
Cord blood contains precious stem cells which can be used as approved therapy for over 80 serious illnesses such as blood disorders, cancers and metabolic conditions. Additionally, cord blood stem cells could hold great promise in the field of regenerative medicine. Regenerative therapies often use a patient’s own stem cells and cord blood often provides the perfect source.
Netmums and Smart Cells have teamed up to create this informative video for anyone wanting to find out more.
This is a collaborative post. All opinions remain my own.
