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Mom. She’s always there for us. She gives us love, encouragement, confidence and the best cookies in the world. This Mother’s Day, we salute moms everywhere with some interesting and fun facts about this special day and the remarkable women it honors.
How did Mother’s Day start?1 Upset by the devastation of the Civil War, Battle Hymn of the Republic composer Julia Ward Howe made a Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870. She asked women to band together to protest the futility of war and the deaths of their sons. While the idea didn’t catch on right away, it laid the groundwork for a presidential order four decades later. President Woodrow Wilson signed the day into national observance in 1914, declaring that it be celebrated annually on the second Sunday in May.
When we think of cord blood, we often think of its potential to be used in medical treatments that are still being developed. And that potential is enormous. But it’s important to remember that cord blood already plays a critical role in treating—and in some cases curing—dozens of serious diseases and disorders.
One of these diseases is beta thalassemia major, also known as Cooley’s anemia. Beta thalassemia major is an inherited blood disorder that occurs when the genes governing the production of hemoglobin—the protein in red blood cells that binds to oxygen and carries it throughout the body—are flawed.
More specifically, hemoglobin contains two proteins, an alpha protein and a beta protein. In people afflicted with beta thalassemia major, the hemoglobin doesn’t contain enough of the beta protein, which means the red blood cells can’t carry sufficient oxygen from the lungs to the body’s cells and tissues.
Imagine having a medical resource at your fingertips that could potentially help fight cancer, halt Parkinson’s disease, and neutralize juvenile diabetes.
Recent advances with a particular group of stem cells, called mesenchymal stem cells or MSCs, suggest they could be this resource within our lifetimes, potentially adding to other stem cell treatments already in use. This news is particularly exciting for expectant parents, because MSCs are abundant in umbilical cord tissue—the tissue that makes up the umbilical cord itself—and can be extracted and stored long-term.
Cord blood banking stores stem cells found in the umbilical cord blood, which is rich in hemapatopoietic stem cells (HSCs). These cells, responsible for producing blood and immune cells are immensely valuable—they’re used today in the treatment of dozens of diseases and are also being explored as a potential treatment for many others, including type 1 diabetes and cerebral palsy. HSCs are different from MSCs, however, so cord tissue stem cell banking goes a step further by capturing MSCs from the umbilical cord tissue, and cryogenically freezing them in case they are ever…
The ViaCord Facebook® page has become a wonderful place for ViaCord families to let their voices be heard. Your inspirational stories are moving and help raise awareness about the importance of cord blood stem cells. It’s this kind of insight that can help other families make an informed decision about cord blood banking. So when we asked our Facebook friends to tell us “Why did you bank your baby’s cord blood?” we knew we would get a response. But what we received was overwhelming.
Why bank? We asked, you answered!
We were amazed and gratified by how many families gave us a personal look into their reasons for banking their baby’s cord blood. Some parents told us that they wanted peace of mind, and others felt their family history influenced their decisions to bank. We were moved by your stories and couldn’t miss the opportunity to share some of your responses:
Stem cells are the building blocks of life. So it’s no surprise that a major source of these cells is in the life-giving connection between mother and baby—the umbilical cord. When parents choose to bank their baby’s cord blood, the physician collects the blood remaining in the umbilical cord after birth and discards the umbilical cord tissue. New research is showing, however, that valuable stem cells are not only found in cord blood; they’re also found in the umbilical cord tissue.
Stem cell overview: hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells
Cord blood contains a variety of stem cells, including hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). These newborn stem cells can do an array of things, including create and repair the blood and immune systems. Hematopoietic stem cells can be the unsung heroes in transplants for patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases. HSCs and other stem cells found in cord blood are also being explored as a treatment option in some regenerative therapies, including treatment for Type I diabetes and cerebral palsy.
Amid the hustle, bustle and celebration of your baby’s birth, your doctor collects the cord blood and packs the unit to send to ViaCord. But what happens next? We asked Gail Foertsch, Senior Manager at the ViaCord Processing Laboratory (VPL), to give parents an inside look at how we process your child’s cord blood in our state-of-the-art facility. Here’s what she had to say:
“Delivered Safe and Sound
With the help of a private medical courier service specializing in transporting biopharmaceutical materials, collected cord blood units arrive at our AABB-accredited, CLIA-certified, FDA-registered and industry benchmarked facility just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. The first step we take is cross-referencing important information on the cord blood unit, including the mother’s name, ViaCord identification number and time and date of the collection, with our database. This ensures the safety and security of your child’s cord blood right from the start.