The umbilical cord — the lifeline between mother and baby — was historically discarded as medical waste after birth.

Today, an increasing number of parents are choosing to preserve the cord blood for its potential to safeguard their child’s future health. 

The birth of a baby comes with an overwhelming number of decisions, one of which is whether to bank the newborn’s cord blood cells. 

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Whether cord blood banking is worth it for a family hinges on various factors, including the present health of their child, the existence of twins in the family and many other individual considerations.

What is cord blood banking?

Cord blood banking involves the collection and storage of stem cells derived from the blood of a newborn’s umbilical cord immediately after birth. 

The reason is its potential life-saving abilities, as the hematopoietic stem cells found in cord blood have the unique ability to differentiate into various types of blood cells. 

Preserving the cord blood cells provides an option for future therapeutic use in treating a range of diseases for the child or siblings. 

These stem cells are less likely to face rejection during transplant due to their immature nature. This widens the blood cells’ applicability in medical procedures for the donor or family members.

Cord blood banking process

Cord blood banking can be done from either a vaginal or surgical birth, and regardless of whether the labor was induced or occurred naturally. 

Once the parents decide to store the blood, the doctor will clamp the umbilical cord in two places and cut the cord, separating the mother from the child. 

Once the blood has been collected and sealed, it will be sent to a cord blood bank for storage. 

The doctor will inject a needle into the cord and collect, in general, between 60 and 300 milliliters (mL) of cord blood. The collected volume can vary, however, and not all collections will be sufficient for future therapeutic use for the child or siblings. 

Once the blood has been collected and sealed, it will be sent to a cord blood bank for storage. 

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates cord blood banking and donation. (Education Images/Universal Images Group )

Collecting fluid in this process is relatively easy and does not cause pain to the mother or baby, according to webmd.com. 

The collection process generally takes around five minutes to complete.

The blood can be stored at several different sites, based on the family’s decisions and circumstances. 

• Public cord banks. These are free to use, but donations made are available to anyone.
• Private cord banks. These blood banks will store the blood for use only by the donor and family members of the donor. This can be an expensive option as there is a processing fee and an annual storage fee.
• Direct-donation banks. These are a mixture of public and private banks. They store cord blood for public use but also accept donations to reserve the stem cells for the child.

Cord blood is collected immediately after birth in a painless process that does not harm the mother or the baby. (BSIP/Universal Images Group)

When discussing the options, cord blood banking often refers to private banking, while cord blood donation generally refers to public banking. 

Private cord banking may not be worth the financial expense for the family, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The reason is that the price is steep for the chance that the child will need to use the blood at some point in time. 

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These organizations suggest that routine storage of cord blood for stem cells as a sort of insurance is unproven, and therefore they caution parents when considering it. 

Donating to a public storage bank could benefit the community, however, according to these organizations. 

There is usually no cost to donate cord blood to a public bank, but private banking can be pricey, involving initial collection fees and annual storage fees. (BSIP/UIG)

What are the uses of cord blood banking?

Cord blood banking can be beneficial because the stem cells are hematopoietic stem cells, meaning they are immature but can become mature cells of different types within the body.

Not only do they require less matching, they also cause fewer infections. 

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The stem cells within the umbilical cord can provide life-saving assistance for several conditions later in life.

Stem cells from the umbilical cord can treat a variety of conditions, including:

• Cancer
• Anemia
• Immune system disorders

Once the cord blood is collected and stored, it can remain viable for a long time. Research suggests that cord blood can be stored for at least 10 years but often much longer. (QAI Publishing/Universal Images Group )

A benefit of using cord blood stem cells is that they rarely result in infectious diseases.

They are also highly effective as they are half as likely to be rejected compared to other stem cells because they are immunogenic due to their immature nature.

What are the cons of cord blood banking?

There is only about an 8% usage rate of blood that has been stored through this process, according to a study cited by the National Library of Medicine. 

Part of the reason for the low rate is that the blood is not always useful for a disease that develops later on in life.

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Many factors go into whether cord blood can be used, such as from a set of twins when one twin is healthy and the other is born with a genetic disorder. 

The blood drawn from the ill child can not be used later on for the healthy child, but the reverse could be true if the blood is a good match.

Patients are more likely to find a genetic match among donors of their own ethnic background. (BSIP/Universal Images Group)

There are many circumstances that the American Academy of Pediatrics lays out as not ideal conditions for cord blood banking. 

Identical twins are not often the best match for each other because a slight genetic difference in the blood cells is recommended. 

Additionally, public blood banks can only accept donations from umbilical cords from a mother carrying a single child. This is due to the possibility that the blood units could get mixed up during the collection with twins.

Another downside of using cord blood cells is that it takes longer for them to create the therapeutic effect desired because they are hematopoietic stem cells.

How much does cord blood banking cost?

Typically, there are two separate fees involved when preserving a child’s cord blood cells, according to the American Pregnancy Association. The initial fee covers the enrollment and collection. 

Then, there is an annual storage fee.

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Those who go this route can expect to pay in the range of $1,350 and $2,350 for the initial collection, testing and registering, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Annual storage fees often range from $100 to $175, but the costs of individual storage banks will vary.

Currently, research into cord blood stem cells is ongoing. Scientists are investigating the potential for treating conditions such as cerebral palsy and Type 1 diabetes. (iStock)

If the parents donate the blood cells from the umbilical cord, there is no cost. 

The future of cord blood banking

The future trajectory of cord blood banking remains uncertain. Nonetheless, preserving cord blood cells today may have significant health benefits, offering new avenues for disease treatment as the field advances. 

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews/health 

Considering the first successful umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant was performed as recently as 1988, as documented by the National Library of Medicine, the science around this practice is relatively young. 

With ongoing research, the scope and efficacy of cord blood use are bound to expand.

Alzheimer’s disease puts a significant burden on not only the nearly seven million people who have been diagnosed with it, but also the caregivers supporting them.

More than 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, according to data from the Alzheimer’s Association. And 70% of them say that caregiving is stressful.

Dr. Heather Sandison, a renowned expert in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia care, said it’s critical for caregivers to protect their own mental and physical health.

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In her new book “Reversing Alzheimer’s: The New Tool Kit to Improve Cognition and Protect Brain Health,” published by HarperCollins on June 11, Sandison — who is based in California — outlines the specific risks that caregivers face.

In the excerpt that follows, Sandison offers some tips and techniques for how caregivers can release expectations and practice self-compassion.

Read an excerpt from Dr. Sandison’s new book

Dr. Heather Sandison: When I meet with a new dementia patient, I know that I am treating their caregiver in addition to treating them. 

Of course, not every caregiver is on board with the idea of prioritizing their own health at that moment — mostly, they want to do everything they can to help their loved one get better.

“Dementia is almost like a virus. It doesn’t affect just one person. It can reach out and impair the cognitive health of the people who care for the patient, too.”

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But dementia is almost like a virus. It doesn’t affect just one person. It can reach out and impair the cognitive health of the people who care for the patient, too. 

To be blunt, if you are not caring for yourself, you are not going to be a good caregiver.

Taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s is such a big and important job that it’s easy to lose yourself to it … If you don’t also care for yourself, your effectiveness and your health will suffer, which will only make things worse for the person you’re caring for.

Risks of caregiving

I’m guessing you already know that caring for someone with dementia is taxing. You may not realize just how detrimental to your own health it can be. I’m sharing this list so that you can see the potential costs of not tending to your own well-being during this time.

An expert in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia care, Dr. Sandison believes that reversal isn’t just possible but that it’s already happening in multiple patients.  (Dr. Heather Sandison)

Caregiver burden

Whether you’re living with your care partner and providing day-to-day care, or living at a distance and providing mostly financial and/or logistical support, having someone in your life who has dementia is often hard in multiple ways — emotionally, physically and financially. 

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Many people find that their sleep, diet, physical exercise and fun suffer. It’s a burden that works in two directions: It’s common to give up the things that help you stay healthy, and to feel a big weight of responsibility, frustration and guilt. 

With Alzheimer’s, patients lose their independence, and there are no benchmarks that align with a predictable timeline. That unpredictability can make the experience stressful and uniquely challenging.

Impaired cognitive function

Research has found that dementia caregivers have significantly lower scores on tests of cognitive function. 

“With Alzheimer’s, patients lose their independence, and there are no benchmarks that align with a predictable timeline,” Sandison writes. “That unpredictability can make the experience stressful and uniquely challenging.” (iStock)

This may be linked to the fact that many caregivers report poor sleep, which can impair your ability to process and respond to information, and thus can influence how safely you are able to perform complex caregiving tasks.

Depression

Depression and dementia are closely linked — having depression can increase your risk of dementia, and having dementia can increase your risk of depression. 

“Taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s is such a big and important job that it’s easy to lose yourself to it.”

On top of that, caregivers of people with dementia experience depression more frequently than the general population, and depression in a caregiver can in turn affect the status and prognosis of the dementia patient.

Isolation

A common feeling among dementia caregivers is that people who aren’t also caring for someone with dementia can’t understand what it’s like, which understandably can lead to feeling isolated from others. 

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Also, your devotion to your loved one can make it hard to ask for help. On top of that, your caregiving duties may be preventing you from getting together with friends or doing things that get you in the company of others, such as working out at the gym, attending church or participating in some other social activity.

Dementia risk

Devastatingly, all these negative effects combine to create an increased risk of developing dementia yourself — up to a sixfold increase compared to non-caregivers. Which is not to say that caring for someone with dementia definitely means you are getting dementia, too. 

It’s really when the sense of caregiving burden is high — and you don’t exercise as much, sleep as well or make healthy food choices — that this risk is at its highest.           

Caregiver non-negotiable: At least one day off            

If there’s one thing I know for absolute certain about Alzheimer’s, it’s this: Taking care of someone with dementia is not a one-person job. 

Trying to do it all yourself without ever taking a break is impossible. It will only increase your caregiver burden and put you on the path to burnout, which can then take a toll on your own risk of developing dementia and render you less able to care for your loved one.

More than 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. (iStock)

It’s for this reason that I tell every caregiver I encounter that there is only one nonnegotiable piece of any caregiving plan, and that is that you take at least one full day a week off from caregiving.

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Why? In addition to staving off your own burnout as well as giving you some time to care for yourself, putting in place a “my day Friday” (or any other day[s] of the week) will force you to line up some help. 

Even if you think you don’t need any assistance now, it is only a matter of time until that changes.

Tools and techniques

Whether you realize it or not, you already have ways of coping with the stress that caregiving can give rise to — it’s just that they are likely not that helpful in the long run. That may be skipping out on sleep, drinking alcohol, blaming others, blaming yourself or deciding that you just need to try harder. 

All these can ultimately only add to your caregiver burden, not lessen it.

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Here, I’m providing a laundry list of tools and techniques that can help make a positive difference in both your day-to-day reality and your long-term health.

Reframing

This is a shift in your thinking that helps you deal with the unexpected with more equanimity — such as when your loved one is not listening to you. It’s very easy to be judgmental in these moments, and to feel victimized, as in “Why are they making my life harder?” Especially when you’re caring for a family member, with whom you have a long history. 

Ultimately, making it about you and judging the other person leads to more disconnection, which can breed upset and an escalation of the challenge.

“Self-compassion has also been shown to reduce the perception of caregiver burden,” Sandison writes. “An important way you can implement self-compassion is to continually remind yourself that you’re doing your best.”  (iStock)

Whenever you’re in that place of judgment, there is an invitation in that moment to notice that you’ve gotten upset, and then reframe your loved one’s behavior as the communication of an unmet need.

Determining an unmet need requires some curiosity and some detective work. In any situation, take a step back and objectively ask, “What’s going on here?” 

“There is only one nonnegotiable piece of any caregiving plan, and that is that you take at least one full day a week off from caregiving.”

For example, if your care partner isn’t listening to you, instead of concluding that they are choosing not to hear you, stay open enough to investigate if their hearing aid is turned up, or needs a new battery, or if there’s too much background noise.

Releasing expectations                                       

This is probably one of the hardest things about loving and caring for someone with dementia — little by little, they lose the ability to do things they once could, whether that’s log into an online account, manage finances, remember your name or brush their teeth. 

As painful as these losses can be to witness, what makes them more upsetting is when you expect your loved one always to be able to do what they once could. 

That’s why, even though you hold out hope that they will be able to do some of these things again, it’s helpful to everyone — especially you — if you can let go of the expectation that they continue to be the person they were. By releasing the expectation, you can relieve yourself of at least a bit of the disappointment that comes from being let down when your expectation isn’t met. 

Take at least one day off per week from caregiving, an Alzheimer’s expert and author of a new book recommends. (iStock)

Maintaining a spirit of curiosity can help. 

Saying things to yourself such as, “I wonder how this will go,” can help you meet your care partner where they are that day. Don’t forget to enjoy and celebrate when your loved one does regain capacity.                                       

Self-compassion                                        

Self-compassion has also been shown to reduce the perception of caregiver burden. An important way you can implement self-compassion is to continually remind yourself that you’re doing your best. 

That may not mean you’re doing a perfect job, or even a great job — some days, you may need to phone it in because you didn’t sleep well the night before, or you’re not feeling well, or you have to focus on work that day, and that’s OK. 

But it does mean that you are doing the best you can in that moment. 

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The fact that you are willing to be a pioneer and learn about the things that can prevent or reverse the downward slide of dementia and put in the work to help your loved one get better suggests to me that not only are you doing your best, you’re doing a phenomenal job. It’s not easy to be at the forefront of a movement.        

“Try talking to yourself the same way you would talk to a friend — someone you care for, and whom you’re trying to encourage.”

Another important tool is to become aware of how you talk to yourself. We all have moments when we get frustrated, say the wrong thing or do something we later wish we could take back. I think we can agree that no one is perfect. 

So when things do go wrong, begin to notice what you say to yourself about it. It helps you become an observer of your own thoughts, which then creates a window of opportunity to be more intentional about what you tell yourself. 

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews/health 

In these moments, try talking to yourself the same way you would talk to a friend — someone you care for, and whom you’re trying to encourage. 

If they made a mistake, I’m guessing you wouldn’t criticize them. 

You would just remind them that they’re doing their best. Resist the urge to say harsh, judgmental or downright mean things to yourself.

Excerpted with permission from the new book, “Reversing Alzheimer’s: The New Tool Kit to Improve Cognition and Protect Brain Health” (HarperCollins) by Dr. Heather Sandison, copyright © 2024 by Dr. Heather Sandison. All rights reserved. 

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