如果你是一个新的或准父母,你probably heard about the option of banking your baby’s cord blood at birth. The topic can be confusing, and you may have many unanswered questions.

You may be unsure exactly what cord banking involves, why people choose to bank their infant’s blood, whether it’s worth it to do so, and how much it costs to bank cord blood.

这是对潜在好处的简单细分cord blood banking以及如何确定这是否适合您的家人。

出生时，新生儿的胎盘和脐带含有丰富的血液，并具有潜在的救生干细胞。可以将这种血液清除，存储并在道路上使用，以治疗各种疾病和疾病。

Healthcare professionals do not remove cord blood directly from babies or birthing parents. Rather, it comes from the umbilical cord and placenta themselves, according to the美国产科医生学院（ACOG）。

The stem cells in umbilical cords and placentas are called hematopoietic stem cells. In people with certain health conditions, they can be used to produce healthy new cells and replace damaged cells.

Stem cells are used to treat over 70 types of diseases, according to ACOG. These include:

  • 遗传疾病
  • immune system conditions
  • 癌症，例如leukemiaandlymphoma
  • 神经系统疾病

You might choose to bank your newborn’s cord blood for several reasons.

First, you may choose to do so if you have a family member with a medical condition that might benefit from茎厘米/秒ldonation. Alternatively, you might want todonate your baby’s bloodto help another person in need of stem cells.

关于绳索银行的一个神话是，如果他们对医疗问题产生严重的关注，您的孩子可以使用绳索鲜血。这种类型的转移（在一个人自己的脐带血用于治疗其健康状况）被称为自体移植。

ACOG指出,自体转移非常罕见。

例如，如果您的孩子患有遗传疾病，则用自己的干细胞对其进行治疗无济于事，因为这些干细胞包含与疾病所涉及的细胞相同的基因。同样，您自己的孩子的干细胞不能用于治疗白血病等癌症。

Instead, most cord blood transplants are allogeneic.

This means that your child’s stem cells would be used to treat another child or adult. It would require a strong match between the stem cell recipient (the person using the stem cells) and the stem cell donor (your child).

脐带血库的好处取决于您的目的以及您在何处存储孩子的脐带血。

If you are storing your child’s blood at a private institution, you may be able to use the stem cells to directly benefit a family member in need, including a close family member or your child’s sibling.

Storing your baby’s cord blood in a public facility has benefits, too. Stem cells can help treat people with many types of health conditions, including cancers and certain metabolic and immunologic conditions, according to the卫生资源与服务管理。

Stem cells vs. bone marrow

使用干细胞移植用于治疗医疗状况而不是使用骨髓移植有许多优势。

根据ACOG, these benefits include:

  • Cord blood is easier to collect than骨髓, and collection is less invasive or painful for the donor.
  • During cancer treatments, cord blood can strengthen the immune system overall.
  • 干细胞比骨髓具有更多的用途，因为供体和受体更容易匹配，并且身体通常拒绝干细胞移植。

If you want to have your newborn’s cord blood collected, you should inform your OB-GYN or birthing professional, such as a midwife, and the hospital or facility where you will give birth. They may need to order special equipment or a cord collecting kit.

Usually, you will need to inform your healthcare team of your choice to bank your infant’s blood about6 weeks在您的到期日之前。您还需要确保已签署所有必需的同意书。

Cord blood extraction happens in the hospital after birth and after a healthcare professional hasclamped and cutthe umbilical cord. They will then use a needle to draw blood out of the cord and store in a designated bag.

The entire process is quick — about10分钟- 并且不涉及与宝宝的直接接触。

有时，脐带血是不可能的。原因可能包括：

  • 您分娩的设施不进行血绳提取。
  • Your insurance won’t cover the costs, and its cost is too expensive for you.
  • Healthcare professionals cannot take enough blood, which may happen if your baby is premature or if you have decided to delay clamping of the umbilical cord.
  • If an emergency occurs during or after birth, healthcare professionals may prioritize your and your baby’s health over cord blood banking.

收集后，必须非常谨慎地存储绳索，以确保保留其质量。每个设施都有其自己的协议和程序。

The Academy of American Pediatrics (AAP)解释了某些认可的机构，监督了绳索血液存储的调节，并注意到某些私人血液库可能无法符合所有这些标准。

在同意将孩子的脐带血存储在私人设施之前，您可能想找出：

  • if the facility is accredited
  • whether they have electric system backups in case of equipment failure
  • 他们的成功移植率是多少

Cord blood bank accrediting institutions include:

  • 事实/联合认证委员会
  • NetCord/Foundation for Accreditation of Cell Therapy
  • American Association of Blood Banks

在考虑绳索献血之前，重要的是要了解私人银行和公共银行之间的区别。这是要知道的：

私人绳索银行

Private banks are usually used by parents who believe that their child’s cord blood may be helpful to a family member who has a medical condition.

They require you to pay on an ongoing basis for your child’s cord blood to be stored.

Not all private banks are accredited or regulated in the same way that public banks are.

公共线库

Public banks are free and supported by government or private funds.

目前，有little evidencethat storing your child’s blood will help your own child fight a medical condition in the future. In fact, if your child needs stem cells to treat a condition, it’s more likely that they will receive a donation from a public cord bank.

When you donate to a public cord bank, you do not get to decide who will use your child’s blood. You are essentially donating your child’s cord blood to help a person in need.

公共线库are heavily regulated, and cord blood from these banks is used more frequently than cord blood from private banks. In fact, blood from public banks is used30 timesmore frequently than from private banks.

大多数主要的卫生组织 - 包括Academy of American Pediatrics和American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists-recommend public cord blood banking.

Another reason these organizations recommend using public cord blood banks is that they are consistently and well regulated.

公共绳索银行的脐带血银行是免费的，如果您捐款，您将不必支付任何费用。这些机构通常得到联邦资金或获得私人资金的支持。

另一方面，私人血管库收取费用，您必须在这些设施中存储孩子的脐带血。

私人绳索银行generally charge an initial fee for collecting and processing cord blood. After these initial fees, you will also pay annual fees for ongoing storage. Private cord blood banks vary in their fee amounts, but they average about $2,000 for initial fees and between $100 and $175 each year for annual storage fees, per theAAP。

银行脐带血有很多好处。但是您的工作方式取决于几个因素，包括家庭的医疗需求和财务状况。

Almost anyone can choose to donate their infant’s cord blood to a public bank. Doing so may help many people. While most medical institutions do not recommend private cord banking, this may be the right choice for you if you have a family member who might use the cord blood you bank to treat a health condition.

无论哪种方式，最好与您的医疗保健专业人员交谈，然后再决定是否要保存婴儿的脐带血。他们还可以为您提供最佳方法建议，哪种类型的血库最能满足您的需求。