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Cord Blood Banking Cost

Despite the advantages and the many uses of cord blood nowadays, it is the cord blood banking cost what makes families reject the possibility of storing privately the umbilical cord blood in institutions like ViaCord, CBR, StemCyte, CryoCell, AlphaCord, Americord, FamilyCord and many others and to go instead to a public cord blood bank, such as Carolina, where the cord blood banking cost is zero, to donate the cord blood to someone else. Therefore, we will see now what are the benefits of cord blood banking in general and the cord blood banking cost to balance possibilities and make a wise decision.

In our complete cord blood banking reviews in this article, we consider the pricing of the service and the cord blood banking cost as a main feature in the evaluation. Read our article with the reviews to learn more.

People often suffer from various diseases that are caused due to the genetic defects carried by their blood corpuscles. Many of these ailments like leukemia, thalassemia, lymphocyte, sickle cell anemia and few other blood-borne disorders are life threatening for the patients. A way to combat these fatal diseases is to use the stem cell of the cord blood, which is available only in the umbilical cords of the newborn babies. The scientists and the doctors have long been researching on the uses and the immense benefits of the cord blood corpuscles. Also institutions registered in AABB are researching.

When a baby is just born from the mother’s womb, he remains attached to the placenta of the womb with the help of the umbilical cord. This cord is responsible for providing all the nourishment to the fetus from the mother’s body, right from the time of conception till the birth of the baby. So there are two arteries and one vein for transporting the pure and impure blood to and from the baby’s body and the placenta. The blood passing through these blood vessels, called cord blood contains high amounts of stem cell that have immense medicinal value in curing complicated blood related ailments. Hence, it is essential for the doctors to collect this valuable blood for future uses, through the following steps.

• The umbilical cord needs to be separated from the mother’s placenta and the baby’s body carefully immediately after the baby is born. The doctors or the medical professionals take care not to hurt the mother and the baby in the slightest, when they remove the umbilical cord. This process takes about five minutes or some more in the case of nuchal cord complications.
• Both the ends of the cut off cord are clamped shut to stop the flow of this valuable cord blood out of the umbilical cord, just as clamping is done in case of other incised body parts for preventing blood loss.
• Only the well trained medical professionals can extract the cord blood out of the umbilical cord, before the blood starts clotting and becomes useless. So this cord blood collection should be done immediately after the umbilical cord is removed from the child’s body. But prior permission of the baby’s parents needs to be taken for legal storage of cord blood.
• Since every drop of cord blood is valuable, it should be totally extracted by inserting a long needle inside the cut-off umbilical cord to collect each bit of this blood. But this whole extraction job should be done away from the newborn baby, to avoid any kind of accidental wound to the baby. This process does not increase the cord blood banking cost.
• This total extraction of cord blood takes only five minutes to collect approximately 5 ounce of blood from every umbilical cord, which is then proceeded for storage.
• When the freshly collected cord blood is deposited in the cord blood bank, it is duly tested by the experts there, to check whether the blood is still in perfect condition for storage. If it is found to be okay, then this cord blood can be stored in very low temperatures, preferably below -190 degree Celsius (Celsius and not Fahrenheit is the unit of measurement in this discipline) Now this stored blood can be used even after a few decades, whenever any patient really needs the stem cell for cure. 

Since cord blood is collected by inserting a needle inside the umbilical cord of the babies, this blood is full of new cell units, each of which is termed as stem cell. The stem cell is not predefined like the other body cells and can be turned into any other variety of cells. This property of stem cell helps it to repair any body organ and cure any blood related ailment. The stem cell can be transplanted in any part of the body, transformed there and multiplied to fill up the gap created by the damaged cells of that part.

The stem cell can be used for increasing the numbers of both red blood corpuscles and white blood corpuscles. Thus, it is now established that these stem cells can be used later to increase in the bones and muscles of any body part. The stem cell is present in limited quantity in the bone marrow, roots of the hair follicles and in many tissues of the body.  The baby stem cells of the cord blood can be used for any person and for regenerating any body part. This high flexibility of the cord blood has made it so popular among the researchers of the medical field despite the high cord blood banking cost.

Many people now want to collect the cord blood from the umbilical cords of their newborn babies and store it for future uses. But this process of collection and proper storage of cord blood is an expensive matter in the case of the private cord blood banks whereas it is free in the public cord blood banks. So it is essential for the interested people to have the required knowledge about the cord blood banking cost, before proceeding with this decision. They need to check the affordability of cord blood banking facilities in any private or public bank of their localities.

• The total cord blood banking cost consist of the charge for the collection of cord blood and the fees for processing the cord blood in storage purpose, both of which are actually one-time expenses. However, the administrative charges for keeping the cord blood in the bank are needed to be paid every year. In most of the private banks, people need to pay approximately $1000 to $2000 in the first year of cord blood banking. Later on, these banks charge around $100 – $200 as the yearly charges for lifelong. So the total cord blood banking cost should be one of the first factors to analyze.
• So many people look out for discounts offered by some family cord blood banks. Few banks really offer discounts for long-term banking and this lack of discounts affects the cord blood banking cost, when the families of the newborn babies want a 20-year storage term. Now there is also the facility for financing this long-term cord blood storage plans. Hence, it is better to check with the cord blood banks whether they are currently offering any discount scheme on the long-term storage of the cord blood.
• The public cord blood banks also need to be paid for the cord blood that they give out to the researchers and doctors, for using in laboratory works, even if they were donated to them initially. Most of the doctors prefer to take blood from the public banks, when they need to transplant the stem cell in the bodies of their patients for curing them.
• If any person wants to send the cord blood to a faraway bank, it is necessary to be sure about the shipping charges. Some banks offer free shipping for their customers, while some banks include this charge in the later bills, instead of pressurizing on the huge expense of the first year. Therefore, the customers need to be assured of this fee before proceeding to store cord blood in that bank.
• When anyone wants to store the cord blood of multiple babies at a time, the bank may offer some discounts on the first-time fees what can help to maintain lower the cord blood banking cost. This discount is particularly helpful in case of the birth of twins or triplet babies, as it is a huge financial burden to store cord blood of each of them. So such parents need to check with the cord blood banks to find out if that feature is available there.
• The army personnel often receive discounts for storing the cord blood of their children. This option of cord blood storage is particularly for the future treatments of these military people, to heal their wounds received during military operations. So they may check if special discounts are available for them from these banks. Therefore army personnel should be having a very low cord blood banking cost.
• Many private cord blood banks offer discount coupons on various occasions, which should be collected at right times to avail such discounts that can save a lot of their expenses in this regard. These are different than the discounts mentioned before, but anyway they help to maintain the cord blood banking cost low.
• Some private banks waive off some parts of the huge first-year costs of cord blood banking, if any close family member of the expecting baby has already been benefitted from the stem cell theraphy and taken the cord blood from that specific bank for the necessary treatments.

When a couple is expecting their baby, they need to be prepared for facing all the expenses related to the baby’s birth and the proper welcome of the baby at home. Moreover, the huge expense of cord blood storage may seem to be a great burden for them, mainly in case of the people having medium level income that cannot afford the cord blood banking cost. So they may simply discard this cord blood banking possibility to avoid this large amount of expense and they do so by going to public cord blood banking.

But now more educated parents understand the necessity of cord blood banking and the immense uses of this cord blood in the treatments of all members of their families. They may also donate the cord blood to the public banks for free, so that this blood can be put into use by anyone else for treatments or research. But many people also choose to store in private banks for any sort of future use, if they can really afford to do it.

Now the facilities of storing cord blood with the private banks are highly advertised among the public, for popularizing this new trend. Many private cord blood banks are distributing their brochures at the doctors’ chambers, to be handed to their patients. Mainly the expecting parents are targeted for raising their interests in this prospect, by handing out the leaflets in the fairs and the shops, where people visit for buying stuff for their expecting babies. However, the parents need to consult their doctors before signing up with any of these private banks for the cord blood storage of their expecting babies.

Most of the doctors encourage their patients to proceed with cord blood banking, if they can really manage to afford it. After all, it is now an established fact that the cord blood is a valuable resource for both the patients and the medical practitioners. So the parents should either donate or store the cord blood of their babies, without simply discarding it totally, as a medical waste. Many parents feel concern about the future health issues that may be faced by their babies and prefer to store the cord blood in private banks, for ensuring the safety of their children in future.

But until now, not all babies can benefit from their stem cell, due to the limited medical opportunity of using the cord blood. So many people think it to be unrealistic to hold the cord blood banking as a sort of biological insurance for the newborn babies. Moreover, the parents can accept blood from plenty of donors, in case of any medical emergency arising with their children. So this lack of potential future gains discourages many parents, mainly if they are facing a monetary constraint. So here there is a decision: afford the cord blood banking cost and enjoy all the benefits or donate to a public cord blood bank.

Advantages of cord blood banking 

• The collection of cord blood can have no negative effect on the health of the newborn baby and the mother, since the whole procedure is conducted after detachment of the umbilical cord from both of them.
• As the cord blood is stored in frozen condition in the cord blood banks, it can be used even after many years by the patients who really need it for curing serious ailments. So now the patients do not need to search for donors of this cord blood.
• The cord blood does not need to be matched with the blood group or the other important blood factors of the receiver. Thus, people can use the stem cell from any stored cord blood in the cord blood banks.
• The cord blood corpuscles are known to be perfectly safe for use by all the patients and there is absolutely no chance of any infection from these blood corpuscles. So the receivers of cord blood do not need to know about the actual owner of this cord blood, which means the identity of that baby and his/her parents need not be revealed.
• The transplant of the stem cell of cord blood never results in any kind of bacterial or viral infection, due to the safe procedures adopted by the doctors and the absence of any harmful agent in this stored cord blood. The newborn babies are very rarely born with any infectious disease that can mar the purity of their cord blood.
• Since cord blood can be used for anyone without matching anything, the people coming from other parts of the world can be saved by this stem cell therapy, even if they do not have any blood donor at their current location. Already, many Hispanic and African Americans are successfully saved by the stem cell of the cord blood.

Various ailments that could be currently cured successfully by using cord blood

• Cancer is the most fatal disease that can be successfully cured with the help of stem cell of the cord blood. Different types of Leukemia, Lymphoma and blood related Sarcoma are now treated with the useful stem cell. All the cancer related pains, fatigue and rapid weight loss are fully cured after the transplant of cord blood corpuscles into the blood of the afflicted person. The gap created by the destruction of cancerous cells during chemotherapy can only be filled up by the stem cell therapy.
• Various types of blood disorders can be successfully treated with the aid of the stem cell of cord blood. These commonly seen disorders include different varieties of anemia, thalassemia, thrombocytes and blood related syndromes. Some of these ailments are hereditary and the patients suffer since their birth till they receive the latest treatment with the stem cell.
• Different varieties of metabolic disorders often prove to be fatal for the patients, among which Hurler Syndrome, Krabbe disease, Hunter Syndrome, Niemann-Pick disease, Sly Syndrome and Mannosidosis are most noteworthy among the common people. Only the cord blood therapy is known to be effective in curing these rare and difficult ailments.
• The expectant mothers can be treated with the cord blood corpuscles, if they have a past history of miscarriage or premature births, which can be due to their ill health. The stem cell can cure the problems related to childbirth and help the mothers to give birth of healthy babies at right time.
• Immunity of the body often faces certain disorders that need to be cured very fast, before falling prey to all sorts of other ailments. Some of these immune disorders result in the destruction of the body cells, resulting in gradual weakness and many other illnesses. The best and the fastest way of curing these immunity disorders is to avail the modern therapy of cord blood corpuscles, even at acute conditions of the patients. Bare Lymphocyte Syndrome, Evans Syndrome, Congenital Neutropenia, Kostmann Syndrome, Phosphorylase deficiency and other critical immunodeficiency ailments are only a few types of this category, which require the cord blood therapy for urgent relief.

Till now, the doctors have achieved successful cure of more than 40 ailments with the help of cord blood therapy. The scientists in the field of medical science are still on the way to find out cures for more diseases through their researches with the cord blood corpuscles. So they are making use of the stored blood of cord blood banks and in near future, more cord blood will be needed for the further research works and advanced treatments of more diseases. It seems that the cord blood banking cost is much lower than its prospective benefits.

Clinical trials with cord blood for curing more complex diseases

• Autism is now a severe neurological problem faced by many children since their birth that hardly has any effective treatment for complete cure till now. So the scientists are now trying to use the cord blood corpuscles in treating this physical disorder that may help many patients return to their normal life.
• Alzheimer’s disease is a serious ailment of the aged people, where they lose all their memories of entire life and their brain become absolutely blank. Now the scientists are conducting prolonged researches in curing this neurological ailment with the help of the stem cell of cord blood. Even a few trials on the humans have been completed and the results are awaited for better success in this regard.
• Some babies are born with defects in their cardiac valves or holes in the walls of their hearts. It is found that the artificial devices implanted to cure these problems are not effective in the long run of life. So these inborn defects of the kids are now tried to be cured with the cord blood therapy, which can be taken from their own cord blood or from the stored blood of the cord blood banks.
• Cerebral stroke is known to damage the brain cells seriously, resulting in partial or complete paralysis of the patients. But now the stem cell therapy is tried for curing these damages, which may restore the normal functionality of the affected brain and cure the patients completely.
• Parkinson’s disease is another neurological ailment suffered by the aged people, due to which the patients find it very hard to move their limbs normally. The experiments with stem cell of cord blood are now yielding some positive results in curing this disease, due to which the doctors are hoping for a complete cure very soon for their patients who are suffering from this ailment.
• Spinal cord injury can lead to the total paralysis of the body in any person, irrespective of the age of the patient. Now clinical trials are going on with rats for experimenting with the effects of cord blood corpuscles for the complete cure of the spinal injuries.
• Liver ailments have already received successful response by using the stem cell over a few patients in the medical laboratories. Those patients have gained better functionality of the damaged liver, resulting in increased production of insulin and glucose particles from the liver cells.
• Rheumatoid arthritis is a highly painful ailment and it almost paralyses the elderly people with unbearable inflammation and acute pain. Now the clinical trials on the animals with the stem cell have shown positive signs of cure from these arthritic pains. It is recorded through the researches that the cellular balance has been restored in the body joints, decreasing the inflammation of the affected places.
• Lungs diseases often turn to be fatal for the babies and putting the infant patients in the ventilator is the only option available till now for treatment of this ailment. But now the uses of cord blood corpuscles in the clinical trials have been found to be effective in reducing the impacts of the pulmonary diseases and the resultant inflammation.
• Periphery artery occlusive disease causes acute pain in the lungs that can be lessened only by taking some rest. Now the researchers are using stem cell therapy to discover the appropriate treatment for these patients.
• The bone repairing is also now made possible by the stem cell therapy, mainly in the delicate areas, like the fractured jaws or the cheek bones. The scientists of Columbia University has successfully established the fact that even a new jawbone can be created from the stem cell, along with the required cartilages for replacing it in the mouth of the patient. But mostly they prefer to repair the broken jawbones with the successful growth of stem cell there.
• Any kind of wounds will be later treated with the cord blood later on. Now the researchers are using rats for experimenting the healing of wounds with the stem cell of cord blood.

With these promising results from the clinical trials, it seems that the best decision will be to afford the cord blood banking cost after balancing with the expected benefits.