Cord Banking 101 with ViaCord

When I was pregnant with both of my children I had always heard about cord blood banking and cord tissue banking but I really never gave it a second look. A few weeks ago I was invited to learn more about cord blood by ViaCord, one of the originators and leaders in the industry. I was very curious about it because I *may* want a third child and honestly anything that affects maternal health means a lot to me.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn a LOT about cord blood and what it does. Did you know that cord blood could help in the treatment of 80 diseases? The disease that stuck out to me the most is Sickle Cell Disease. Sickle Cell Disease is an ailment that has plagued the African American community for years. Cord blood has been used in the treatment of this disease, and has actually cured patients. With sickle cell disease, the stem cells actually replace the immune system and they are no longer susceptible to the disease. This really made me realize how powerful cord blood is and the major impact it could make for the African American community. A service like this could be revolutionary especially for the lower income families affected by these diseases.

Here are some other facts that you may not have known about Cord Blood:

• ViaCord has recently lowered the upfront cost of cord blood banking by 40% to make cord blood banking more affordable and accessible to more communities
• There is a cord blood banking registry that can be created through GoFundMe for those moms that don’t want/need baby things but would instead appreciate the donation to cord blood storage fees.
• 88% survival rate for traditional transplants (one year post treatment)9a
• ViaCord is one of the longest and most stable companies with high transparency and high involvement of moving the industry forward.
• With sickle cell disease, the stem cells actually replace the immune system and they are no longer susceptible to the disease.
• Research is currently being conducted to evaluate cord blood as a potential treatment option for cerebral palsy and children on the Autism spectrum. ⁸⁴ What do they look for as far as an outcome? Increased motor function in CP, improvement in intellectual ability and social skills. Not talking about curing—just improvement. Autism: checking behavioral scales over time. Autism studies are usually done on kids between 2 and 6 because that is usually when they are diagnosed.

Personally speaking, now that I know so much about Cord Blood Banking I will likely take cord blood banking into serious consideration in a future pregnancy. I hope you learned something new about this amazing science too!

Have you ever considered cord blood banking, if not, would you? Did you learn something new today?

Author information

Nellie Mommy. Fitness Addict. Socialite.
Schnelle "Nellie" Acevedo is a busy mom of two young boys (2 and 5), she is a career woman by day and a self proclaimed fitness junkie by night. Brooklyn Active Mama is a positive community that focuses on demonstrating to all women that you can always find time for fitness. She features a Weekly Wednesday Workout and a Friday Fitness Check-in series where she encourages her readers to check in and remain accountable for their fitness and nutrition goals weekly. Nellie also is a co-founder of the annual A Healthy U Conference which is a conference dedicated to helping women improve their mental, spiritual and physical health. In addition to getting in the gym 5 times weekly, Nellie is a licensed Zumba instructor in Brooklyn. Since beginning to blog Nellie has lost 27lbs (and counting)! You can find Nellie on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, & Google Plus. TwitterFacebookGoogle

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