3 Things to Discuss with Your Partner about Family Cord Blood Banking

Cord blood banking has been gaining immense popularity these days. If you are an expecting mom, then you would have heard a lot about the cord blood and the advanced stem cell banking facilities. What exactly is cord blood (CB)? Why you should even think about saving it? There might be a several set of questions running through your mind. So you and your partner need to discuss about the importance of cord blood banking and decide whether or not to bank it.  You can also seek advice and suggestions from your physician. Here are a few steps that you can follow to come up with a good decision. 

1. Get the facts straight: Make it a point to get the accurate information about the umbilical cord tissue and blood banking services. Discuss the details with your partner and make sure he gets a clear understanding of what it is all about. Explain how the cord blood is collected and why it is a harmless procedure. Moreover, make him aware about the remarkable advantages of donating or banking the CB.
2. Weigh the pros and cons: Once your partner is clear about the importance and advancements of the adult stem cell banking, it is time to decide whether you should think about banking your newborn’s cord blood or not. Analyse the medical history  of both yours and your partners. Keep in mind that cord blood stem cells have the potential to treat more than 80 diseases and it also includes genetically inherited disorders. 
3. Review the costs: Assuming that you are interested to save the umbilical cord tissue and blood, the next step is to discuss about the costs required for banking the CB.  If you are planning to rely on the services of  private family cord blood banking, then you should briefly study about  their initial collection, processing and storage fees. On the contrary, you can also think about donating the CB to a public bank, which is free of cost.
    

These are some of the important factors you need to discuss with your partner for taking an informed decision regarding the family cord blood banking services.