Recently K Honey and I started talking about storing our child’s cord blood, the blood in the umbilical cord. This blood usually is discarded but with the recent advancements in science and the potential power of stem cells (which can be found in cord blood) there seem to be more and more reasons to preserve this fluid.

There is some controversy, however. It seems to revolve around the idea that the benefits of storing cord blood aren’t exactly clear at the present day but there are a ton of institutions interested in taking your money to do it.

Personally, it seems like it’s an investment. Right now, steam cells aren’t really that useful, but the potential is great and the hope is that in the near future, something can be done with them.

I’ve found some resources on the net, but they seem a bit bias. I hope that the readers of this blog will be able to chime in on if they have their cord blood stored, why, etc.

Some Links

  • Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Banks - a comprehensive list of cord blood banks around the world, very useful for me as an ex-pat. There’s some information about cord blood itself, but they clearly have a bias.
  • Umbilical Cord Issues - A much more technical and scientific perspective on cord blood and issues associated with it. If you know your biology, this may provide useful.
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