The umbilical cord blood needs to collected

The umbilical cord blood was thrown away after the child’s birth. Experiments have shown that the Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells. The undifferentiated cells, which can differentiate into specialized cell types, are called stem cells. Stem cells can be broadly divided into two parts, embryo stem cells and adult stem cells. Further, there are majorly three types of stem cells; they are Hematopoietic stem cells, Mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial stem cells. Hence, it is very important to collect and preserve the umbilical cord blood cells. The cord is commonly known as the birth cord or the funiculus umbilicalis. This cord connects the developing embryo to the placenta. It is the umbilical cord, which supplies oxygen, nutrient rich blood to the fetus from the placenta. The cord is generally 50 cms long and 2 cms in diameter. This umbilical cord directly connects the central circulation. The blood in the umbilical cord is known as cord blood and it is the source of undifferentiated stem cells.

Researchers have proved that the umbilical cord blood cells can fight various kinds of fatal diseases. Doctors are also encouraging parent to store the umbilical cord blood cells. Parent can even donate the blood. The stem cells are rich in white blood cells. Hence they are at times called the building blocks of the body too. The stem cells in the umbilical cord blood cell help to repair the dead and the dying cells. The umbilical blood needs to be collected within 10 minutes from the child birth. Parent need to inform the health centre with the 34^th week of the pregnancy. Hence, the health center makes every arrangement to collect the umbilical cord blood. The blood is collected in a painless way. Once the baby is delivered, the blood is immediately collected. 75 ml of blood gets collected from the cord. It is really not enough to cure an adult. Still the blood need to the preserve for public use or for private use. Once the umbilical cord blood is collected, it is tested for some detectable germs. If the blood report shows that the blood is right to be preserved then several chemicals are added for the preservation. Once the blood is donated for public use it is preserved in the Public Blood Bank and on the contrary if it is preserved for private use then is stored in a private bank. If the public blood bank collects the blood then it can be used for anyone who is in need of the blood. On the other hand, if the blood is preserved in the private bank then the blood cannot be used without the parent’s permission. The blood can be used for the baby or for any relative in the family. The price to preserve the umbilical cord blood in a private bank is around $ 1000 to $ 2000. The cost may vary from bank to bank.