Umbilical cord blood banking is extremely useful for medical
research and the blood can already be used in the treatment of
several serious illnesses. All expectant parents should consider
donating cord blood very seriously, either as an altruistic
public donation or privately for the benefit of the child and
other family members. The decision must be made before the
confinement, as the time of birth is the only opportunity that
medical professionals will have to collect the blood. You may be
wondering why cord blood is so beneficial and why you should
consider banking it for the future. It is the embryonic stem
cells contained within the cord blood that makes it so
important. These cells are extremely young and unsullied and can
be grown to become specialized cells; they can copy themselves
repeatedly, unlike other more mature cells in the body. That
means stem cells can be used to grow new organs, treat disease,
and replace damaged cells. The cord blood is collected just
moments after the baby is born. Once