Cord blood banking,

•Cord blood is the baby's blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after birth.
•Cord blood contains stem cells.
•Blood stem cells from cord blood can be used for transplants for children and young adults. This is known as a cord blood or stem cell transplant.
•A cord blood transplant can treat many blood diseases, immune diseases and metabolic diseases.
•It is not yet known if stem cells from cord blood can be used to treat other conditions.
•Stem cells from cord blood can be collected and stored for future use.
•Cord blood is not usually collected as a routine.
•Cord blood must be collected safely and in a way that minimises contamination and infection.
•It is best if a trained technician who is not involved in the care of a woman or her baby collects cord blood.
•There are two types of cord blood bank:

1.private (commercial) banks
2.public banks.
•Private banks are generally for-profit organisations which store cord blood for possible future use by an individual's own family for a fee.
•Each hospital should have its own policy on private banking and make this policy available to prospective parents.
•A public bank, such as the NHS cord blood bank, stores donated cord blood for use by patients anywhere in the world who need a transplant.
•A public bank may also store cord blood for families with a known genetic or other disease.
•The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) supports public banking and donation to the NHS cord blood bank.