Arkansas: First Cord Blood Bank Starts in the Last Week of July

Arkansas can now boast of the first cord blood bank in the country funded by the state and linked to the national registry. If you compare cord blood banks, public, state funded cord blood banks always work out cheaper and more affordable, a source of relief to people who cannot afford high costs of private cord blood banking in the country.

Cord blood remains in the umbilical cord and the placenta at childbirth. It is discarded but now, with research showing that stem cells from this source are the best for treatments in diseases such as cancer, the activity in this sector has taken off. Cord blood is collected from the baby’s umbilical cord after it has been cut and there is no pain to the mother or the infant. A syringe may be used to draw in cord blood or the blood may be drained into a collecting bag.

People have a choice of cord blood banking and can compare cord blood banks. They can choose baby cord blood banking in private but have to pay to keep it secured and safe for future use. Private cord blood banking costs are usually very high. A better alternative is public state funded cord blood banks where you can store your child’s cord blood but unless you pay to keep it private, it can be used to treat anyone in need. Stem cells sourced from umbilical cord blood are most effective in helping in new growth and development of cells in a person afflicted with cancer or leukemia.

A unique cord blood bank, now set up in Arkansas, allows people to donate their child’s umbilical cord blood and help in saving those in need of stem cell transplants in the state. There still aren’t specialists in Arkansas to perform the critical transplants but for now the bank will focus on collection of umbilical cord blood from donors, according to Doctor Michelle Fox, medical director of the new bank in Arkansas. According to her, any hospital, anywhere in Arkansas can collect cord blood and ship it to the new bank for processing and storage. Donors will have to undergo rigorous screening procedures. Already the bank has collected five private donations and three public ones that are being stored in Florida until the local bank is operational. The cord blood bank will cost $ 400000 a year to run with funds from the state and private sources. It will hold about 3000 units of cord blood.