At the sight of those 2 pink lines, beautiful feelings gushed in and my heart brimmed with love and joy. On one hand I was overjoyed about having the baby but on the other hand I was also stressed if I would become a good mom. Every day in pregnancy was an experience in itself. From my gynae to mommy to relatives, everyone recommended diet plans, sleeping positions, yoga, lamaze and tips and tricks to give birth to a healthy baby. All my actions were directed towards well-being of my baby. Somehow, I was convinced that the health of my baby was in control in my womb. But what after giving birth to the baby?
Giving birth to a healthy baby is just the beginning of a new journey called motherhood. It is the beginning of shouldering responsibilities of the baby for a lifetime. After giving birth to the baby, mothers play a significant role in raising him/her to be healthy and happy. And to do complete justice to that responsibility and assure a healthy life for my baby, my gynae suggested stem cell banking.
Umbilical cord stem cell banking is a process of extracting and storing stem cells from the new born’s umbilical cord blood in a repository. The stem cells can treat cancer, immune disorders, blood diseases like anaemia and some 80 other life threatening diseases. In simple words, stem cells can act like the body’s own repair kit and help the body heal from life threatening diseases.
It was an eye opening revelation but as new parents, there were a lot apprehensions in our hearts. It required investment and we wanted to be absolutely sure. So we researched further, read about it online and even took second opinion from other doctors.
Digging further about the companies offering stem cell banking, I read about LifeCell, India’s first and largest stem cell bank in India, and their initiative of community stem cell banking. Community stem cell Banking allows sharing of preserved stem cells exclusively amongst its community members. With community stem cell banking, there are higher chances of finding a matching donor stem cells from someone totally unrelated. It provides protection to baby and immediate family members i. e Parents, Siblings, Maternal and Paternal Grandparents against all medical conditions treatable by stem cells.
It was heartening to know that LifeCell’s community cord blood banking recently saved the life of a 7 year old suffering from aplastic anaemia. It is a rare blood disorder where body stops making new red blood cells and stem cell transplant is the best treatment for it. The patient’s parents were expecting another baby at the time of their elder daughter’s diagnosis and they opted for umbilical cord blood banking. Usually the stem cells of siblings match and could have been used for the patient’s treatment. Unfortunately, in this case, the sibling’s stem cell was just a 50% match and couldn’t be used for the patient. While the parents could have approached global public banks, the probability of finding a match for a patient of Indian origin is less than 10%. However, LifeCell’s community stem cell banking brought a huge ray of hope for the patient’s family.
Being a part of LifeCell’s community banking program, the patient could easily get access to an inventory of over 50,000 units which provides more than 97% probability of finding a match. The parents withdrew 2 high-quality matches at no additional cost. The retrieval process would have otherwise costed lakhs of rupees and involved a lot of hassles.
What impressed me most is, unlike many private stem cell banks which often reject an unfit sample and refund your money right away, once you have enrolled with LifeCell, it continues to protect the baby and the entire family irrespective of the quality of sample received.
There is nothing more precious and valuable than the health of your baby. And if the baby suffers from a life threatening illness, parents resort to all possible means to cure the baby. There is nothing more heart wrenching than losing a loved one due to financial crunch. So it really helps to be enrolled with a stem cell bank like LifeCell which has time and again promised and proven to financially assist its clients for stem cell related transplantation costs.
Health is wealth and it is important to be proactive in maintaining health of the baby and the family too. We cannot prevent things from happening, but we can definitely prepare ourselves for the unprecedented times. After reading everything about stem cell banking, my hubby and I were sure that we wanted to opt for it. It is one of the safest and best ways to give us the peace of mind that our baby and the entire family (including maternal and paternal grandparents) are protected from life threatening diseases for a lifetime. We hope we never have to use it. But just in case we need to, we are assured that LifeCell is there to help us out.
This post is sponsored by LifeCell and posted as part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla, and happily SPONSORED BY RRE Studios and SHOWCASE Events.
Whenever I come across any such stories where young kids suffer from any discarder, it breaks my heart. But thanks to Stem Cell Bank that not only gives a hope to the parents but bless the child with a new and healthy life.
True. ☺
I m not a mother but the experience you have shared in here is truly helpful and it gives a lot of knowledge. Many things to know, learn when you are a mother…
Glad u found it helpful 😀
☺
Few days ago my brother has talked about lifecell stemcell technology with me. though expensive but indeed it is effective way for getting an excellent protection from life threatening diseases. thanks a lot for sharing your experience.
Thank u for dropping by. ☺
I have a genetic condition and if stemcells will be used it might be cured. But since it is expensive and not sure if it will help me or not
M so sorry to hear that. Hope u r keeping well with it. M myself suffering from autoimmune disease n doctor suggested stem cell.. But also told that there’s no guarantee. It works for life-threatening diseases.
Stem cell bank is a great option and protects our kids for life. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Glad u loved it
Motherhood is a miracle of nature. True, stem cells therapy has a lot of potential. Administering stem cells can potentially replace damaged and deformed cell and tissue types. At the same time, stem cell therapy has a long way to go.
There’s still a lot of scope in stem cell research. It’s a life Savior in true sense
I have read earlier somewhere about this but today got to know about it in detail. It’s really a life saviour for so many parents and, obviously children. Would share this post with other parents who might be interested.
Thank u so much. Glad u loved it
Lifecell Bank is doing a commendable job. Stem sell bank is need of an hour as we are hearing and seeing life threatening diseases more than ever. and for every parent health of their kids are of utmost important.
True indeed
Lifecell or stemcell method is a great medical way to protect your child but what if the sample does not work? In India what if there is a power cut and the temperature is gone? What then? I am asking as a layperson as I have no clue about it. We didn’t have this when I had my kids.
Your concerns are genuine. It’s a relatively new technology just 15 years old in India. There is power backup and necessary precautions taken to save the stem cells. Also community banking allows access to the entire bank for a matching cell. ☺
Stem cell banking is indeed needed as we dont know when it could be required. Though it has started relatively recently, we need to have more affordable options that will enable different segments of people also to secure the health of their kids.
True. 🙂
Stem cell banking is indeed helpful, I have read and heard a lot about it. And you rightly said, we cannot prevent things from happening, but we can do our best to protect our kids. Thanks for sharing this.
Glad u loved it. Thanks for reading
I totally agree with you. Stem cell banking is the best way to treat kids with most of the critical illnesses. I wish it becomes a little cheaper and more popular
Amen. Thank u for reading this. 🙂
This post took me back to my pregnancy. I remember I was overjoyed when I delivered my son and also grateful for having the power of technology with Stem Cell Banking to protect him and his health.
Thank you for sharing.
That’s so nice to hear. ☺
The new awareness about umbilical cord stem preservation is now there in every new generation parent. Now a days the option to save the stem cells is usually opted for. It is a great breakthrough and very helpful for curing many health issues. There should be more articles like yours on this topic to spread even more awareness.
Thank u for the kind words. 🙂
A very informative post and I am sure it would be useful too all the would-be parents out there. Although there have been naysayers, every new parent should opt for stem cell bank. It is a life saver.
Absolutely. Stem cell banking is a life saver
When my second daughter was about to born in Bangalore that time I came across stem cell banking. It sure can protect from life threatening diseases.I think parents should opt for this options if they can afford.
Absolutely. Glad u opted for it. ☺
This definitely needs awareness so that more parents come forward to do this. I’ve done for both my kids
Glad u opted for it. ☺
I remember when I was about to deliver my first child, I enquired about stem cells and all the related details, but somehow had a change of mind. Lifecell banking is no less than a boon for kids/patients suffering from life-threatening diseases.
Indeed. Thanks for sharing ur experience ☺
That is a wonderful post. God has shown the way to protect babies from any disease by using stem cells.
Absolutely. ☺
During my time, it was new and we didn’t opted for. But read much about the same. Hope it works well with everyone who have opted. Kids health is always my first preference.
Every parent worries about their children. ☺
I have heard of Stem cell banking, and your post enlightened me, It is a brilliant suggestion to new parents, hopefully science and technology can help patients.
Thank u so much for sharing your views
Loved reading it. Cord blood banking is really a great thing you can do for your children
Thank u so much ☺
Stem cells bank have turned out to be such a boon for our kids future. Though a bit expensive and out of reach of general population. I wish govt. comes out with a plan for all
More research in the field will definitely make our affordable for all
Science is no less than a miracle just like motherhood. Science can give life if rightly used. I am loving this idea to save stem cells and use them for curing diseases. I wasn’t fully aware when my son was born. But after reading about the story of how this 7yr old kid was saved i feel it could be really helpful for future generations
Absolutely. Thanks for sharing your views
Stem cell banking has many benefits and i have already opted for lifecell. It is effective way for getting an excellent protection from life threatening diseases. thanks a lot for sharing your experience.
That’s awesome. Glad to hear this. ☺
Glad to know about your experience
Stemcell banking is a boon from medical science. I have heard about so many cases abroad where stem cell has helped the child/adult to recover from the life threatening disease. If I am not wrong, actress Lisa Ray has been advocating stem cell banking too. I am sharing this post with my SIL who is expecting her child soon. I am sure this post would be helpful for her and other parents too.