Security deposit

We insure our houses, cars and possessions - so why wouldn't we want to insure our children's future health? Now you can, explains Kate Carter.

Having a baby is an exciting experience - a time when mums- and dads-to-be are faced with many new decisions, from whether to choose a specialist or midwife, when to stop work, and even which buggy to buy. While the individual decisions might be different, the one hope we all share is for our babies to be healthy and happy - and to have the best start in life.
    Parents have no way of knowing what is going to happen in their newborn's future. However, one way they can give themselves peace of mind from the start is by banking their baby's cord blood.
    Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord when a baby is born. These precious stem cells are the body's "master cells" and are a perfect DNA match for your baby. The only time you can collect these powerful stem cells is immediately after your baby is born. In a simple and painless process, the cord blood is simply drawn out of the umbilical cord and deposited in a special, sterile collection bag.
    Parents who take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save their baby's cord blood can rest easy in the knowledge that they have the cells safely stored should their child face illness in the future. They are effectively providing their child with their very own back-up immune and blood system. Unfortunately, many families who are not aware of the current and future uses of their baby's cord blood miss the chance to save it, and it just gets thrown out as medical waste after their baby is born.
    Auckland parents Daniel and Jillian Friedlander were amongst the first families to bank their baby's cord blood once the service became available in New Zealand in 2002. They had no way of knowing that, only four years later, they'd say it was the best decision they had ever made. Maia, one of their twin girls, suffered oxygen deprivation at birth, which left her "disconnected" and developmentally delayed.
    "We had speech therapists, physiotherapists, behavioural therapists, and any other kind of therapy you can imagine working with Maia for up to six hours a day. And despite three years of dedicated effort, her progress was slow and inconsistent. Maia was as frustrated as we were - facing a lifetime of therapy and no real promise of any improvement," explains Daniel.
    Fortunately, the family had heard about cord blood being used to repair brain injuries, and they were able to have Maia's own cord blood put back into her blood stream via a drip. Daniel says the process, which took 20 minutes, completely unlocked the door to Maia's personality and her physical development.
     "Just a few days after the reinfusion, Maia's eyes started to look more alert, and she lost the unfocused, dreamy kind of look she had always had. Her arms and legs began to straighten out, and her physical co-ordination improved."
    A year on, the family is thrilled with the progress Maia has made - and continues to make - on an almost daily basis.
    "We couldn't be more grateful for the dramatic change it has made to our lives, and want to make sure other families save their baby's cord blood at birth. Because we saved her cord blood, Maia got a second chance at life, and we can now be the family we'd always dreamed of. "You never know what can happen at your child's birth, but when you have their cord blood stored, you have options - like the option we had for Maia. All parents should do it; it's a decision they'll never regret."
    Maia is the second New Zealand child to need her own cord blood for medical
treatment in the last few years. Sophie* was only four years old when she became unwell and her family's nightmare began. She was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma - a vicious and advanced childhood cancer.
    But her family's decision to store her cord blood when she was born made the difference. Even though there was no family history of illness, her parents felt it was like an insurance policy - albeit one they hoped they would never need to use.
    In the 18 months since their child was treated with her own cord blood stem cells, she has made a miraculous recovery from a stage four cancer that nearly killed her.
    Latest research suggests that there's a one in 200 chance of a person needing a stem cell treatment at some time in their life. Around the world, families are increasingly using their children's stem cells to successfully treat more than 70 diseases and conditions including cerebral palsy and juvenile diabetes. And current research shows that stem cells may play a part in the treatment of many other degenerative diseases and conditions including Parkinson's disease, Muscular Dystrophy, alzheimers, strokes, heart and liver disease. 
    Last year alone, over $938 million was spent on research to find more ways to use these life saving stem cells.
    Cord blood has been used to rebuild immune systems after cancer treatment since 1975 when it was trialled instead of bone marrow. It is now preferred to bone marrow in many cases.
    In New Zealand, families bank with Cordbank, the country's only cord blood bank, which launched in 2002. Families are advised to register by 20 weeks, so that the collection kit can be delivered well in advance of the birth and training arranged for their midwife or specialist.

Pictures from top: Maia; Jillian and Daniel; Jillian Friedlander with twin daughters; Maia the evening before receiving the reinfusion of her cord blood, which completely unlocked the door to Maia's personality and physical development"

Kate Carter is the Director of Customer Services for Cordbank. as part of the Customer Service team, Kate helps expectant parents learn and understand more about the benefts of cord blood banking and how it is being used globally.  A passionate advocate, Kate and her husband, Dan, recently gave their godson  the Cordbank service as a baby shower gift.

As seen in OHbaby! magazine Issue 7: 2009

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