Should I bank my newborn’s umbilical cord blood? | BabyCentre

Cord blood banking involves collecting blood left in your newborn's umbilical cord and placenta and storing it for future medical use. Cord blood contains potentially life-saving cells called stem cells.

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Cord blood contains stem cells that can treat some serious illnesses, but the chance of needing it is very low for most families.

You can donate cord blood for free at specific hospitals or pay to store it privately for family use.

Private cord blood banking is expensive, so its best considered if your family has a specific medical need.

If you are giving birth elsewhere, you would need to pay to collect and store your baby's cord blood privately. Private cord blood banks store the blood for use only by the donor or their family, in the hope that if one of them becomes ill with a stem-cell treatable disease, such as blood cancer, there might be a perfect match unit available for them. Private banks will charge an up-front fee for collection and a yearly charge for storage (NHS Blood and Transplant ndb).

Although most hospitals allow for private cord blood collection, its worth checking with your midwife on what your local hospital's policy is (HTA nda).

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Other than reasons like this, doctors don't think there's enough benefit for most families. The chance of your child, or a family member needing a transplant from the stored stem cells is extremely low. Some genetic disorders, such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia, are already present in the cord blood (Johnson 2023), so a close match from one or two other donors would be needed instead. Older children and adults often need stem cells from more than one donor for treatment to work.

However, research into medical uses for stem cells is happening all the time. For some parents, the possibility that the stem cells may be needed for therapies that haven't yet been discovered prompts them to consider storing their baby's cord blood, and sometimes a section of the umbilical cord as well.

Stem cells can develop into blood cells that fight infection, carry oxygen around the body and help with blood clotting. At the moment, stem cells can be used in the treatment of some cancers, blood disorders, and immune deficiencies. Among these are leukaemia, aplastic anaemia, thalassaemia, Hodgkin's disease, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHS Blood and Transplant ndc).

In any therapy involving a transplant there is a risk of the body rejecting the transplanted cells or reacting against them. In the unlikely event of your child needing a stem cell transfer, stored cord blood would be a perfect match for them. And there's a good chance of it being a match for your other children, if you have any.

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For most families, the benefits arent enough to justify the cost of cord blood banking. You can expect to pay anywhere between 550 and over 6,000, depending on what you want to bank and how many umbilical cord blood stem stem cells you want to store. Youll also need to factor in the annual fee for storage, which can average around 2,000 for 20 years, though costs can vary widely between providers and the package they offer (HTA nda). However, many private companies offer payment plans to make it more affordable.

Its worth taking the time to think about whether delayed cord clamping or cord blood banking is more important for your family. Feel free to discuss this with your midwife during your appointments.

- Sophie Martin, lead midwife

If you are considering cord blood banking, it's best to find out as much as you can during your pregnancy about how it might be used. Doctors look at two key measures to decide if cord blood is suitable for treatments:

(HTA ndb) The higher these counts, the more useful the cord blood might be. Heres what the numbers mean:

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(HTA ndb) When you store cord blood privately, the bank will usually tell you these counts soon after collection. Knowing these numbers helps you decide if storing the cord blood is worth the cost. High numbers mean the blood is more likely to be useful for treatments, but even lower numbers might have value for future research. Even if the cord blood isnt used right away, research is always advancing, and its value might grow over time (HTA ndb).

Your midwife will not be involved in the cord blood banking process, leaving them free to care for both you and your baby during your labour and birth.

- Sophie Martin, lead midwife

The process is straightforward and safe for both you and your baby. After your baby is born, your midwife will clamp and cut the umbilical cord as they would do during any birth. The blood is then drawn from the cord into a special collection bag (HTA 2024).

By law, anyone collecting cord blood must have proper training and work under a licence from the Human Tissue Authority (HTA). The place where the cord blood is collected must also be assessed by a trained professional to ensure its safe and suitable for the procedure (HTA 2024).

Cord blood should ideally be taken just after the placenta is delivered. It then has to be tested and frozen for storage. The process should not interfere with you and your baby's birth experience (NHS Blood and Transplant ndc).

Lead midwife and BabyCentre expert Sophie Martin says: Your midwife will not be involved in the cord blood banking process, leaving them free to care for both you and your baby during your labour and birth."

Ask if private cord blood collection is allowed at the birth unit you're planning to attend. A private cord blood bank will usually send someone trained in taking blood (phlebotomist) to the hospital (HTA nda).

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Both donating and storing the cord cells is a great idea if you can afford it. I work with children requiring the cells and trying to find a match is the hardest thing, so if God forbid anything happened it would be great to already have that option. There are a lot of things happening now and coming in the future where people's own cells will save them from conditions.

My husband was able to announce the sex of the baby to me and we were able to do cord blood banking successfully."

In some circumstances, collecting cord blood isn't safe or worthwhile and the decision may be taken out of your hands. This may be the case if, for example:

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(Anthony Nolan nd)

There are more criteria for collecting healthy cord blood available on the Anthony Nolan websiteOpens a new window.

If youve arranged cord blood collection with a private company, you shouldnt be charged if they are unable to make the collection.

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Should I bank my newborn's umbilical cord blood? | BabyCentre