What is an umbilical cord blood?
During pregnancy, the placenta and blood within it (cord blood) serve as the lifetime of nourishment from mother to baby through the umbilical cord.  Following the birth, the umbilical cord, placenta and blood contained within are usually discarded.  However, umbilical cord blood is rich in hematopoietic stem cells, the same type of stem cells found in bone marrow.  Hematopoietic stem cells are the parent cells which create all of a person’s blood cells:  red cells that carry oxygen, white cells that fight disease and platelets that help blood to clot.  Children and adults with leukemia, metabolic disorders, immune deficiencies, bone marrow failure or genetic disorders such as sickle cell disease, may require a stem cell transplant as part of their treatment to replenish cells that are abnormal or have been wiped out by therapy.