Cord Blood Developments

You did everything right: You were thinking ahead and took the right steps to ensure you stored your baby’s cord blood. You got your kit early, took it to the hospital with the greatest of care and even told the doctor to fill the collection bag like a balloon. Then you’re struck with a double whammy of bad news. You could blame luck or even medical science, but it may actually come down to the type of collection kit your cord blood bank had provided.

As old as time itself, labor and delivery isn't oft the place for new developments, but here are six new ways people are doing things in the delivery room.

Many expectant parents wonder if cord blood banking is covered by their health insurance or can be deducted from their taxes as a medical expense. There are, in fact, times when cord blood banking is considered an eligible medical expense covered by a family's HSA, FSA, HRA or health insurance plan and can qualify as a tax deduction. Let’s explore.

A Duke University Medical Center phase two study will be looking for 100 adults who recently suffered a stroke to test the efficacy of cord blood infusions as a treatment. Participants will then be followed for one year to determine the safety and effectiveness of the treatment.

The use of hematopoietic stem cells in treatment for children with Sickle Cell Anemia has been proven successful from sibling or matched donor transplants in children. Eemerging research is showing promise for groundbreaking treatments that are sure to broaden the uses of stem cells. 

You can imagine the elation Patricia and Lou felt when they learned they would be having a child. Unfortunately, that feeling of excitement turned into apprehension when a routine blood test at the five-month mark found Patricia had an aggressive form of leukemia. “I was so excited to be a mother, and at the same time, all I could think about was, Will she have a mother?” said Patricia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending that women who are pregnant in any trimester should talk to their physicians and consider postponing travel to any area where Zika virus transmission is active. So if you’re pregnant, how worried should you be about Zika? And how will it affect your plans for cord blood banking?

Researchers report the rate of rejection, infection and hospitalization are lower among leukemia patients receiving cord blood than those receiving matched, unrelated bone marrow. The study's results may lead doctors to lean towards cord blood as a transplant option over bone marrow when deciding what’s best for their patients.

Over the past 30 years, Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg has earned acclaim and respect in the cord blood banking field. Her research has broken new ground, and she is regularly called on by other doctors and researchers from around the world to share her expertise. It's no wonder Dr. Kurtzberg's first foray into stem cell transplantations came with the first-ever umbilical cord blood transplant, in 1988.

One morning, I got into a conversation with a mom I met in an OBGYN’s office in Clearwater, Florida. She was with her daughter who looked to me to be about 7. She seemed ‘clued in’ to who I was from the start, and when I asked her, “Have you considered cord blood banking for your baby?” The mom confided in me that her daughter with her at the appointment had recovered from leukemia as a result of a cord blood transplant.