An Important Family Decision: Banking Cord Blood With the Cord Blood Registry #CordBlood411 #MC #sponsored

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for the Cord Blood Registry. I received promotional item to thank me for my participation.

Liam, my youngest, was a preemie and his health issues began before he was even born, during a placental abruption that forced an emergency c-section. Since then, he has been diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis and has three brain tumors with the risk of more growing over time. For this reason, he has been on chemotherapy for almost a year now. When I was pregnant with Josiah, my oldest, I considered cord blood banking, but we decided not to. You don't know how much I regret that choice and, when we have our next child, we will definitely bank his or her cord blood with the Cord Blood Registry.

Liam a few hours after birth.

Just like me, less than 10% of parents choose to bank cord blood and umbilical cords are often discarded at birth because parents do not know of their value. I wish I had taken the time to really research about cord blood banking because the cord blood stem cells have been used to treat over 80 conditions and are currently being tested under FDA-regulated clinical trials for their potential regenerative ability to help many common illnesses, including cerebral palsy, autism, pediatric stroke, traumatic brain injury, certain cancers, and much more. Banking your baby's cord blood could possibly be the difference between life and death in future circumstances.

As we have learned, the future is unknown and, of course, anything is possible. We never want to think of anything negative happening to our family or children, but these things do happen and it is so important to talk about the possibilities and what you can do, as parents, to prepare for them. Banking cord blood is such an important decision and one that should not be taken lightly. This isn't a subject our obstetrician brought up with us and is often not discussed, but it definitely should be. I think the only information I'd received was through a small brochure in the mail. If I'd been given all the facts when pregnant with Josiah, I would never have hesitated to bank his cord blood.

My two little men visiting Santa!

As I mentioned earlier, cord blood can be used to treat certain cancers and, through our own oncologists, we've heard how much it has helped other pediatric patients within the clinic Liam visits each week for his chemotherapy. Just knowing there is a chance it could help our children in the future is reason enough to bank cord blood, in my opinion, because I just cannot imagine life without them. Plus, knowing how quickly the medical field advances, there is no telling what the future holds and what other uses we will find for cord blood. The Cord Blood Registry has the highest published cell recovery rate at 99%, which is 20% more of the most important cells than others in the industry. We all want the best for our children and I believe banking cord blood is the way to go for their future health and well-being. Be sure to watch this video for more information on how cord blood stem cells work.

Have you banked your child's cord blood in the past or are you thinking about doing so in the future? We'd love to hear your story!

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for the Cord Blood Registry. I received promotional item to thank me for my participation.