Cord blood and cord tissue banking is our passion! We love talking about it with you – expecting parents and families and sharing why it’s essential for #WhatMattersMost. We also find it especially intriguing and insightful to discuss it with industry professionals.
Recently we talked to Dr. Christyne Peters, an obstetrician-gynaecologist at Markham Stouffville Hospital, about why parents-to-be need to know about cord blood and cord tissue collection, banking, stem cells’ potential, and the importance of education.
“I want to make sure that everyone knows it’s out there and it’s available,”
– Dr. Peters
As an obstetrician, Dr. Peters believes cord blood and tissue collection is a unique opportunity to collect stem cells and is an easy-to-perform process that can be seamlessly added to parents’ birth plan and the birthing process. Since the cells collected match the individual they are collected from, and potentially match family members, it’s peace of mind should a condition arise that it can be used to treat.
For parents that come from different ethnic backgrounds, or have a history of blood issues and malignancies, she strongly encourages to bank cord blood and cord tissue. Their unique combination of heritages can make it difficult to find a suitable match in a public bank, if necessary. Those with a family history of blood disease are wise to bank because of the increased probability of inheriting a disease or genes that predispose them to a health condition, which stem cells may effectively treat.
Dr. Peters discusses cord blood and cord tissue collection at her prenatal appointments, and again later in their pregnancy. She believes it’s important for parents-to-be to know:
- What the clinical uses are;
- What stem cells can treat and what they cannot treat;
- That there is promising information coming out of trials on cord tissue stem cells (MSCs) and it’s important to consider in addition to cord blood collection; and
- It’s easy to collect, and a minimal time commitment to the clinical team.
“The most important thing is a healthy baby,”
– Dr. Peters
When it comes to delayed clamping and cord blood and tissue collection, “the most important thing is a healthy baby,” says Dr. Peters. For healthy, well developed, full-term babies 30-45 seconds before clamping allows for the collection of a good sized sample while still getting those clamping benefits! Dr. Peters says that if you want the best sample possible, ask for the cord to be clamped as soon as possible.
For a premature baby, delayed clamping “may be the most important thing,” says Dr. Peters. Allowing cord blood to flow into your little one can help prevent or lower their risk of developmental delay, especially in premature boys, she says. In this case, cord tissue collection is recommended and has many potential benefits, especially as research on MSCs is still in its infancy. The research on cord tissue has “interesting concepts,” says Dr. Peters.
“Cells for Life has made sure there’s a process in place so that the nurses are educated about – how to do it and process it,”
– Dr. Peters
We believe, cord blood and cord tissue storage is essential for #WhatMattersMost. For peace of mind that every parent deserves, take a moment to find out why storing your baby’s cord blood and cord tissue with Cells for Life may be the perfect fit for your growing family.
