There is no doubt about the fact that umbilical cord blood is a great source of stem cells. This blood is processed and stored for future use and it has many applications in the field of medicine. There is an immense amount of money being poured into research on this subject, and there is a strong likelihood that many more diseases will be cured as a result of this research.
Many parents of newborn children do understand the importance of harvesting the cord blood as soon as their child is born. However, it is very normal for them to have reservations about the procedure. Many parents stay away from this procedure in spite of its undeniable benefits. They are just afraid that it might have dangerous consequences for their newborn child.
However, the truth is very different. In reality, the process of harvesting cord blood is very simple and poses no danger to the child at all. Cord blood is collected only after the baby is born and the umbilical cord has been cut. It is removed from the fetal end of the cord, as opposed to the placental end.
Not more than 75 ml of blood is extracted to ensure that sufficient blood is available for processing. The baby would lose this amount of blood in any case during this time and it therefore poses no danger to the child. Most of the time, this blood is normally thrown away as medical waste.
Once parents understand that cord blood harvesting and storage has only advantages for their child and for the rest of the family without posing any danger to the child, they usually opt for the procedure as well. As a result, this is quickly becoming a very large industry with many benefits for mankind.



