Cord blood, which is the blood from the umbilical cord of a baby, has been found to be an excellent alternative to bone marrow in terms of being the source of stem cells that can be used to generate blood cells in a human body.

Cord blood can be collected easily and safely without causing any harm to the baby or the mother. It can also be stored easily and can be preserved for long time to be retrieved and used when the need arises.

A lot of public and private cord blood and stem cell banks are in operation which can provide the services of saving cord blood.

Saving a child’s cord blood can turn out a boon, especially in cases where the family has a history of stem cell or blood cell related illness like leukemia or anemia etc.

The current way to treat such an illness is by the way of a bone marrow transplant as the bone marrow has been found to be a rich source of stem cells.

But the patient might have to undergo a long and painful waiting period for a matching bone marrow from a donor. This is because donating a bone marrow is a tough process and the number of donations is less compared to the need.

Cord blood on the other hand, is normally discarded after the baby’s birth. It is collected after the baby’s birth and can be stored in cord blood banks .Saving the cord blood of a child can be later in case the child needs the stem cells for transplantation.

Saving cord blood can also help others in case where the blood can be saved in public cord blood banks and is generally available for anyone, even unrelated persons, who have a matching requirement.

This kind of service is generally provided free of charge by the public cord blood banks.On the other hand, saving cord blood in private banks, gives a person, an option to reserve the blood for his own personal use or for use within the family.

This kind of service is generally provided for a fee.The life saving properties of cord blood clearly projects a need to save and donate the cord blood of ones child.

This kind of service should be more publicized as many parents are not yet aware of the uses of cord blood or the procedure for saving cord blood.Only then, the aim of the public cord blood banks, in saving and providing the cord blood at times of need, will be fulfilled.