Cordlife: Your Baby's Cord Could Save His Life

Your baby’s precious CORD blood can save his precious life

Photo image courtesy of www.mothersofchange.com

If you read the information about me on my home page, my full time career is in medical field as I am a Neonatal/Pediatric ICU nurse. I have no background in writing but blogging is my hobby and passion.

As a nurse, we study the importance of each part in a human body and its uses ever since I started studying the course. This stored knowledge is being applied in my daily work. I know for a fact that this knowledge is now readily available by means of the internet which increases the awareness of each parents if they do some researching. As an excited mother or father, I saw a lot of them reading anything that can make them take care of their newborn better.

As a Neonatal ICU nurse, I already saw a lot of cord being cut so the baby will be finally separated from the mother, specially since the hospital I am working at practices the Unang Yakap by DOH. The connection between the mother and the baby through the cord is amazing. Its more than a bond, as the cord provides the nutrients the baby will need to survive while he or she lives inside the womb.

Basically, the cord contains cells that are believed to be more effective than the one being taken from the bone marrow as the cells are younger so it is easier to use it for studies and treatments. The stem cells in the cord blood are known to be helpful in treating blood related diseases like anemia and leukemia. Some uses the cord blood for skin care products because the blood found in a cord's blood is believed to help in keeping skin youthful.

There are a lot of innovations being done today just to improve the health of each individual. One of it is called Cord Banking. Its is a proactive approach wherein you can save the cord blood in a private banking center or you can donate your baby's cord blood in a public bank where others can benefit from it. It is not a bad thing to save it or donate it because once the cord has been removed from both the baby and the placenta, it will just go to a waste anyway.

As a mother, you may be interested in learning the importance and value of cord banking as it can help your children in the future. Cordlife is now offering its services in the Philippines. You can now think if you are ready to invest for your child's future.

According to a study, "Leukemia is perhaps the most common type of cancer compromising 47.8% of all childhood cancers (1). Hodgkin's Disease (1) or non-Hodgkin Lymphoma is the third childhood cancer compromising 9% of childhood cancer. Aside from these types of cancers, certain brain disorders are also common in children. These include cerebral palsy and neuroblastoma. Cerebral palsy severely impairs the development of the motor functions and afflicts 1-2 percent of the Philippines population (2). Neuroblastoma, on the other hand, causes the sufferer to lose the ability to empty the bladder, experience paralysis of the hips, feet, legs and uncontrolled movement."

The research in the use of cord blood and its stem cells have been started since the 1980's and has shown promise of saving lives and treating life-threatening diseases. There is more than 30,000 cord blood stem cells transplants (3) have already been performed since 1988.

“The strides made in cord blood transplantation has made this manner of treating diseases more widely accepted by people,” said Dr. Arvin Faundo, Cordlife Philippines Medical Director. “Currently, umbilical cord blood transplant is considered as one of the standard forms of treatments for leukemia, among others. Also, many clinical trials (4, 5) worldwide are ongoing for which the results are encouraging. In fact, Duke Medicine is studying the use of umbilical cord blood stem cells6 to treat autism and related brain disorders. While the trials are still in the initial phases, we are hopeful that these will yield positive results.”

Last June 2014, the Duke Medicine received 15 million USD funding by Atlanta-based Marcus Foundation. The foundation opened its door for possible participants from outside their country as long as they meet the criteria of patients ages from 24 months to 72 months old. The patient needed to travel for at least three times for the infusion and 6th and 12th month follow up. There will be worth $1000 US to be provided to help in the cost of travel expenses.

Nina Corpuz, a popular reporter decided to invest on banking with Cordlife for her baby and family's future. She quoted that, "Having my child was the most fulfilling moment of my life. I never thought I'd be capable of so much love and sacrifice until I gave birth to my wonderful kids." She also added, "Every day is just a joy and as early as now, I think of the many things my child and I will do, experience, and share. I invested in my baby's cord blood and cord lining because I want to be sure that my baby is given the best investment I could ever give."

It is not widely known in the Philippines but the Cordlife has already served over 3,000 families in the Philippines alone and it is a trusted company worldwide.

“We are definitely seeing a growing acceptance and openness of the Filipino market to the idea of umbilical cord lining and cord blood banking because I believe that the parents are now more proactive in finding better means to complete their family’s health protection plan.” said Michael Arnonobal, Cordlife Philippines Managing Director. “More importantly, today’s mothers see investing in their children and families as paramount to ensuring their legacy and their well-being.”

There are many things to consider when you opted to save or donate your child's cord blood and lining but I hope this article will give you a glance of its importance.

For more information, download Cordlife’s free infopack @ www.cordlife.ph or call (02) 3321888 to know how you can invest in your children’s future.