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Stem Cell Storage

Umbilical Cord vs Placenta: Difference between Placenta and Umbilical Cord

Umbilical Cord vs Placenta: Difference between Placenta and Umbilical Cord

Written By Vaishali Thapa - March 28, 2024
Read Time - 4 min read

Expecting the arrival of your little bundle of joy? We know, this period of waiting is exciting yet a bit unnerving. You must be going through millions of worries right now but hey listen up, YOU’VE GOT THIS! 

Quick question though, would you believe us if we tell you that your baby's umbilical cord blood and placenta can save lives? Most likely not. But this is not an unusual reaction. We receive this reaction, every time we inform parents that their baby's precious stem cells have the ability to cure life-threatening diseases, mend wounds, aid cancer therapies, and so on.

This blog will introduce you to the world of stem cells. And how your one decision to preserve it can protect your child (and family) from the effects of multiple life-threatening diseases while also saving the lives of others. Curious to know how? Read on to learn more.

Firstly, allow us to tell you a little bit about umbilical cord blood.

What Is Umbilical Cord Blood?

An umbilical cord connects the baby to its mother when the baby is inside the womb. It has 2 passages; one is the umbilical vein that is responsible for carrying blood rich in oxygen and other nutrients. And the other being the umbilical artery, which carries out deoxygenated blood consisting of waste material of the fetus.1

Umbilical cord blood stem cells known as hematopoietic stem cells are collected from the umbilical cord. These stem cells have the ability to repair and regenerate. That is why they are used in the treatment of several blood disorders like Beta Thalassemia, Sickle-cell disease; blood cancers, such as Leukemia, Lymphoma & Neuroblastoma, along with immune and metabolic disorders.2,3

Umbilical cord blood has been used for hematopoietic cell transplants for more than 30 years.4 Today, there are 90+ life-threatening conditions that can be treated with the help of an umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant. 

Now let’s take a look at how umbilical cord blood stem cell banking works?

Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Banking

When the baby is born their umbilical cord is surgically removed from them and sent out to the labs for cord blood preservation procedure. Parents can easily sign up for umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation before-hand or at the time of their baby's delivery. This will help them to get readily treatment for any of the aforementioned disorders in the case of emergency. Today, there are numerous choices for umbilical cord blood stem cell banking and LifeCell's community banking program being one of them.

When you go for LifeCell’s Community Banking program to preserve your baby's vital umbilical cord blood then not only your baby, but also the baby's siblings, parents, and grandparents, get a chance of obtaining matching cord blood units (if required). Besides that, you get free infinite stem cell retrievals and a financial aid of 20 lakhs towards treatment expenditures.

Not only this but when you sign up with LifeCell’s Community Banking program, you also get two units of Allograft for free! You must be wondering what an allograft is, right? Well, you’ll discover more about it further in this blog.

Till now, we hope that you’ve gained considerable knowledge on umbilical cord blood stem cells, their application and how you can choose it for your little one. Moving forward, let’s take a look at placenta's roles and its application.

What Is Placenta?

Placenta is a temporary organ that connects the developing baby to the mother’s uterine wall.5 Highly specialised tissues called placental tissues, such as the placental disc, umbilical cord, amniotic fluid, and amniotic sac, are in charge of carrying nutrients and synchronising developmental cues during pregnancy and fetal development.6

Placental Tissue Stem Cell Application

Placental tissue  enriches mesenchymal stem cells or MSCs, making them an ideal renewable source for cell replacement in regenerative medicine, anti-aging therapy, along with several neurological and immune disorders.7 Even though the placenta has its numerous benefits, the commercial banking of placental MSCs is not approved by DCGI (Drug Controller General Of India), therefore, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) has imposed a ban on banking of placental stem cells.8

The immense positive impact of placental tissues have been seen in treatments pertaining to wound healing, non-healing ulcers and burns.9 Their potential has also been recognised as an ideal bio-absorbent for treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.9

Placental tissue consists of the amnion and chorion membranes, rich in growth factors and cytokines that foster wound healing.10 Due to its properties, placental tissue-based grafts are being extensively used in the field of urology, dentistry, cartilage repair, etc.11 There are several placental tissue-based grafts readily available in the market to meet your medical needs. One such product is LifeCell's placental tissue-based allograft. All allografts are enriched with growth factors, structural proteins, cytokinins, etc. making it an ideal biological wound cover and convenient to use.

Our placental tissue-based allografts are approved and licensed by NOTTO- National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation, which are processed at AATB-certified labs. These allografts are sterilized and decellularized, and are prepared from the donated placental tissues. Each donated placenta has the potential to save lives, when transformed into LifeCell’s placental tissue-based allograft. That is why we encourage you to donate your baby's placenta, which would otherwise be thrown away.

Ending Note!

So folks, we’ve shared the power of “knowledge” and now you hold the power of “conscious choice”! Although we understand that as a parent, your priority will always be the well-being of your child. 

We hope that by reading this blog, you must have gained a fair idea about umbilical cord blood, placenta with respect to stem cell banking. We’re also aware that as expectant parents, you must be going through extensive research to find out the best care for your baby. To share the load, we have covered this topic for you. So that you can acquire a better understanding of both kinds of stem cell banking that may help you in taking a well informed decision towards your baby’s healthy future.

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