Giving their baby a sporting chance
L-R Adine, Harper and Jeff Wilson
Proud parents of one year old Harper, Adine and Jeff Wilson, will become a family of four this January when their new baby arrives. Just as they did for Harper, the family has enrolled with CordBank to have their newborn’s cord blood collected and stored for future use.
Cord blood is the blood that remains in your baby’s umbilical cord following birth and after the cord is cut. It’s a valuable source of stem cells, which are a perfect DNA match for your baby.
“By saving your baby’s cord blood you give them the chance to survive some of the most deadly diseases and illnesses – now and into adulthood.“
“I first found out about it through a lady at work, but I know friends who have missed out because they just didn’t know that the service was available. So I tell everyone I can about it. We see cord blood banking as an insurance that you hope you never need to use,” says Adine.
Cord blood stem cells can only be collected right after your baby is born, via a simple and painless procedure.
They are the building blocks of organs, tissues, blood and the immune system. They can also turn into other types of cells including heart, muscle and nerve cells.
We want our children to be able to benefit from the progress being made in the world of medicine – which is increasingly using cord blood stem cells to treat degenerative illnesses and conditions,” Adine adds.
To date, two New Zealand children have been successfully treated with their own cord blood, and current research shows there’s a 1 in 200 chance that children born today will need a stem cell transplant in their lifetime. Parents banking their baby’s cord blood now can rest easy in the knowledge that they have these cells safely stored.
“By having the stem cells stored for both of our children they will each have access to what is effectively a perfect match for each of them, rather than waiting in hope for a suitable donor if they need a transplant.”
“As a parent you want to cover all the bases so banking the cord blood for both of our children will give us the peace of mind that we have given them the best start in life.”
