Umbilical cord blood storage

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Forget nappy washing services and baby boot camp – the latest on offer for new parents is umbilical cord blood (UBC) storage.

UBC is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta after a baby is born. Previously discarded, research has now found that this blood is rich in haematopoietic stem cells – the building blocks of everything in blood, including blood cells that carry oxygen to tissues (red blood cells) and make up the immune system (white blood cells). Stem cells can now be collected and stored for potential future use.

If your child was unlucky enough to develop cancer later in their life, chemotherapy or other treatments would destroy blood-building cells, which live in the bone marrow. These stem cells then need to be replaced – usually via a compatible bone marrow donor. But if their umbilical blood is stored, there’s a guaranteed match readily available.

“This is the way of the future,” says WH health expert and GP, Dr Ginni Mansberg. “Bone marrow transplants are painful for everyone involved and currently, only 30 per cent of Australians who need a bone marrow transplant have a suitable family donor. Of the remaining 70 per cent, maybe 20 to 25 per cent can find an unrelated donor.”

WHAT DOES IT COST?
In 2000, the Australian Government set up AusCord – a free national cord blood collection network. This is designed to be a national searchable registry available to all Australians. There are currently three public UBC banks, including 11 collection centres (see abmdr.org.au for more info). But if you donate to AusCord, the blood is available for anyone in need of a transplant.

If you want to store blood just for your child, you can pay a private collection and storage service. But there are considerable costs – a registration fee, processing fee and storage fee – which can be in excess of $5000. To find out more, check out Cryosite, Cellsense and Stemlife.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) released a statement saying they support the collection of “cord blood donations in at-risk families”. However, the statement also says that low-risk families who undertake private UCB banking should “consider both the cost and an uncertain probability of future benefit”. RANZCOG says the current lifetime likelihood of a child someday needing to use his/her own UCB stem cells is approximately 1 in 400.

HOW IS IT COLLECTED?
The whole process is completely painless, but collection can only take place at the time of delivery. The portion of the umbilical cord still attached to the placenta is cleaned, then a needle is inserted into the umbilical vein and the cord blood is drained into a specially-designed bag. It’s then taken to a lab where it’s centrifuged to separate the stem cells, which are frozen and stored.

“It’s all experimental right now,” says Dr Mansberg. “But cord blood may have other uses in future, such as treating adult leukaemia and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s. It can be used for other relatives and even strangers – many could benefit from your donation.”