Xu Hanxing

What is an Umbilical Cord Role of the Umbilical Cord Issues with cord blood donation

“ a cord or funicle connecting the embryo or foetus with the placenta of the mother and transporting nourishment from the mother and wastes from the foetus. ” Definition from Dictionary.com

The connecting cord from the developing embryo or foetus to the placenta To carry nourishment and oxygen from the placenta to the baby and return waste products to the placenta from the foetus

The umbilical cord develops from, and contains, remnants of the yolk sac and allantois. The umbilical cord at full term is usually about 22" or 56 cm long and about 2 cm in diameter. The umbilical cord is made of Wharton's jelly. There are no nerves, so cutting it is not painful. There is ordinarily no significant loss of either infant or maternal blood while cutting the cord. The cord contains two arteries which carry deoxygenated blood - from the foetus back to the mother - and one vein that carries oxygenated blood - from the mother to the foetus.

Pros: A kind of ‘insurance’ Can be used in the treatment of bone marrow transplant, leukemia, lymphoma, cancers, sickle cell disease and other diseases Cons: Expensive (First-year fees from $595 - $1835, annual storage fee $95) 2007 policy statement on cord blood banking titled Cord Blood Banking for Potential Future Transplantation, stated that 'private storage of cord blood as "biological insurance" should be discouraged.'

If I were the parent of a newborn child, I would choose to donate the cord blood to a cord bank. This is because by doing so, my child’s cord blood might be able to save people’s lives, as cord blood can be used to treat diseases like leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell diseases.