Editor—Edozien has provided a balanced analysis of the issue of commercial cord banking.1
Figure 1.
Credit: JAMES KING-HOLMES/SPL
A need exists for further emphasis on the importance of delayed cord clamping. In addition to the Cochrane meta-analysis,2 further trials have shown substantial benefits in very low birthweight infants3 and also term infants. Cord blood collection must not be allowed to restrict this practice. The value of delayed cord clamping has been shown whereas the value of commercial cord blood banking is still largely hypothetical at present.
Commercial cord blood banking is an insurance, not with a monetary return in the event of a claim but with the prospect of a successful medical treatment. Like all commercial insurance there is a premium to pay and risk of collapse unless the venture is underwritten by the government or the insurance industry as a whole.
Competing interests: None declared.
References
- 1.Edozien LC. NHS maternity units should not encourage commercial banking of umbilical cord blood. BMJ 2006;333: 801-4. (14 October.) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Rabe H, Reynolds G, Diaz-Rossello J. Early versus delayed umbilical cord clamping in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2004;(4):CD003248. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 3.Mercer JS, Vohr, BR, McGrath MM, Padbury JF, Wallach M, Oh W. Delayed cord clamping in very preterm infants reduces the incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage and late-onset sepsis: a randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics 2006;117: 1235-42. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]