Umbilical Cord Blood Banking: A Review

Nursing

Umbilical cord blood is blood that remains in the placenta and in the attached umbilical cord after childbirth. Cord blood is collected because it contains stem cells which can be used to treat hematopoietic and genetic disorders. In certain disease conditions or as a side effect of chemotherapy or radiotherapy, the bone marrow may stop functioning. At such times, a stem cell transplant becomes necessary to regenerate the bone marrow. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) banking has become a new obstetrical trend. It offers expectant parents a biological insurance policy that can be used in the event of a child or family member’s life threatening illness and puts patients in a position of control over their own treatment options. To sensitize the community in a catalytic manner, health workers, community leaders and community volunteers can act as an effective change agent, to bring about a behavior that can lead to improvement in their real life practices, thereby reducing the prevalence of health problems in people. Therefore, this literature review aims to find out importance, public knowledge especially knowledge of antenatal mothers about cord blood banking.

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