Cord Blood Stem Cells

Hey, mom! Do you know just how amazing your pregnant body is and what a miracle it is that you will carry and nourish your baby for nine months and then give birth to a beautiful new little person? Many expectant mothers find that they read more during the nine months they are pregnant than they will for the next 18 years! Hard to believe but true! You will find that you have a need to know everything about the changes your body is experiencing as well as what is going on behind the scenes inside your belly!

Being pregnant truly is the "Mt. Everest" of life for many women. Most expectant mothers are more aware and "tuned in" to their bodies during this time than any other time in their life. We all read about the aches and pains of being pregnant and how big the baby is at such and such week. We learn how to sleep to alleviate heartburn and about why we have to go to the bathroom so much. As for the development of the baby, most mothers are really fascinated once they can feel a kick or punch. You may read about your baby's development during those first few weeks and you may think, "Hey, this looks more like a tadpole than a baby." That's okay, everyone thinks that a baby looks more like a tadpole than anything else those first few weeks but during the first 21 days post-ovulation is when the miracle of development happens. In fact the medical world doesn't even refer to it as a fetus or baby yet. During the early weeks of development your baby is commonly referred to as an embryo. There is so much going on with your baby that it will truly boggle your mind if you look beyond the tadpole.

The magic begins as early as three days after ovulation if you've conceived. You don't even know you're pregnant yet! The sperm and egg have joined (not an easy task considering that only 1% of sperm even make it to the fallopian tube for fertilization). By day five post-ovulation (you still don't know you are pregnant), the blastocyst enters the uterus and implantation begins. Up until now the fertilized egg has simply been growing and dividing cells. With implantation there is a need for increased circulation on your behalf as this tiny mass of cells begin to develop into your baby. From here on out, the development of your baby is utterly amazing and happens in the blink of an eye.

At 13 days post-ovulation, the placenta has begun to develop and has attached itself to your uterus. The formation of blood and blood vessels of the embryo begins in this stage. The blood system appears first in the area of the placenta surrounding the embryo, while the yolk sac begins to produce hematopoietic blood cells. These blood cells are also referred to as stem cells. These are the building blocks of the blood and immune system. Stem cells are the "mother cells" that lead to the production of all the various types of cells in the blood. Stem cells reproduce into red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body, white blood cells that fight infection, and platelets that aid in clotting.

By 16 days post-ovulation, different layers of the body are forming. The endoderm forms the lining of lungs, tongue, tonsils, urethra and associated glands, bladder and digestive tract. The mesoderm forms the muscles, bones, lymphatic tissue, spleen, blood system stem cells, heart, lungs, and reproductive and excretory systems. The ectoderm forms the skin, nails, hair, lens of eye, lining of the internal and external ear, nose, sinuses, mouth, anus, tooth enamel, pituitary gland, mammary glands, and all parts of the nervous system.

At 17 to 19 days post-ovulation, the embryonic area is now shaped like a pear, and the head region is broader than the tail end. Your little one looks like a tadpole! The ectoderm has thickened to form the neural plate. The edges of this plate rise and form a concave area known as the neural groove. This groove is the precursor of the embryo's nervous system and it is one of the first organs to develop. The stem cells of the embryo are already developed and they are beginning to form channels along the epithelial cells, which form consecutively with the blood cells. The embryo is 1.0 = 1.5 mm in length, that's about the size of a head on a straight pin. Just think how amazing this is that your baby can be so very small and all this development is taking place at a lightening pace!

In only two short days your baby's heart has begun forming and those stem cells are still hard at work. Secondary blood vessels now appear in the placenta. Stem cells appear on the yolk sac simultaneously with endothelial cells that will form blood vessels for the newly emerging blood cells.

Now you may be thinking, "Why am I reading about stem cells over and over again?" The reason why is simple. All expectant parents need to understand the importance of stem cells and what they do exactly. For starters, stem cells are primarily used in transplant medicine to regenerate a patient's blood and immune system after they have been treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation to destroy the cancer cells. At the same time the chemotherapy and radiation destroys the cancer cells in a patient, they also destroy the life building stem cells. Therefore a transplantation of stem cells is performed after the chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment, and these stem cells migrate to the patient's bone marrow where they will reproduce, creating a new blood and immune system for the patient.

Now, you're probably thinking, "Why are they telling me all this? This is more information than I need." The chances are that you or your child will never need a stem cell transplant. However, there are many parents who have had to learn the importance of stem cells and of a stem cell transplant in order to save the life of their sick child or even another relative. It is unfortunate that we have the miracle of being pregnant and giving birth down to a science but no one has come up with a way to protect our children from diseases such as leukemia, aplastic anemia, sickle cell anemia and a whole bunch of other diseases that are treatable with a stem cell transplant.

Now that you know how important stem cells are, you also need to be aware that being pregnant puts you in a very elite group for a short time. At birth, your baby's umbilical cord is filled with stem cells. Immediately after birth is the only time parents can choose collect these stem cells. Stem cells are abundant in umbilical cord blood and the collection procedure is safe, painless and usually done in five minutes or less with no risk to mother or baby. Parents must arrange for cord blood to be collected before their baby is born otherwise the cord blood is routinely discarded after delivery.

Chances are good that during all the reading you've been doing, you've read about cord blood and the importance of stem cells in your pregnancy materials or have heard on the news about the ground-breaking research and medical advances that have been made using stem cells collected from cord blood. These stems cells are unique to your baby and family, making them a valuable component to maintaining your family's future health.

The majority of expectant couples who decide to bank their baby's cord blood stem cells do not have any risk factors such as a history of a disease treatable with a stem cell transplant or a different ethnic background. Over 95% of the families who choose to collect and store their baby's stem cells do so for peace of mind, considering it money well spent if they never have a reason to use it.