Program Offers Expectant Parents and Physicians an Option to Save Newborn Stem Cells

A service called the Newborn Possibilities Program may help provide treatment for the estimated 10,000 babies born in the United States each year with an increased risk of developing a neurological disability.

Launched by Cord Blood Registry®, the program is designed to provide autologous, or one's own, umbilical cord blood stem cells (also called newborn stem cells) for regenerative medical treatments.
 
Children with a low Apgar score, who may have an increased risk of developing neurological disabilities, will be accepted into the program.
 
An Apgar score is a routine assessment used at the time of birth to evaluate a newborn's physical condition.
 
All expectant parents in the United States are eligible for this free program and are advised to enroll during the second trimester of pregnancy.

"It is impossible to predict outcomes in babies born at risk for neurological injury," said Dr. Robert Sears, M.D., noted author, pediatrician, and CBR medical advisor.

"However, we can collect newborn stem cells from the umbilical cord immediately following the birth, and if a disability becomes evident, parents and doctors can use the cells to try and repair the damaged brain tissue.”

“The hope is that we can lessen the severity of any potential disabilities and give these children a far better quality of life."

"If you look at the consequences of significant perinatal injury, you run into seizures, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and a lot of other problems that are difficult to deal with," said Dr. James Baumgartner, associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical School and University of Texas Health Sciences Center.

"The preliminary data suggests that you probably can do well for these kids with cord blood stem cell treatment."

"There currently is no reparative therapy for traumatic brain injury," said Dr. James Baumgartner.

"When we have something that is the first hope on the horizon, that's an immense step in the right direction because it potentially changes the paradigm on how we think about treating one of the biggest causes of morbidity for children. Suddenly, we have an option when before, we had nothing."

The Newborn Possibilities Program provides free processing and storage of newborn stem cells for children born with a low Apgar score, less than or equal to six at ten minutes.

Parents enrolling in the Newborn Possibilities Program incur no cost for the storage of the newborn's stem cells for the first four years.

Parents wanting to know more about this service or who wish to enroll must do so before childbirth by visiting website. http://www.newbornpossibilities.com/ or by calling 1-888-CORD-BLOOD.

"The cost of banking these powerful stem cells shouldn't be a deciding factor in this circumstance," said Thomas Moore, CEO of Cord Blood Registry.

"We created the Newborn Possibilities Program because treatments for children with brain damage are very limited.”

“By making autologous newborn stem cells accessible, many of these children will now have new treatment options that they never had before.”

“Expectant parents need to know that the enrollment process is simple, there is no cost, and these cells could make a tremendous difference over the lifetime of the newborn."

"You can never predict what's going to happen," said Cathy Pell, mother of Abby Pell, a 22-month old diagnosed with an anoxic brain injury.

"Our fifth child had a complication that couldn't be detected or prevented prior to birth, but because we stored her cord blood, we were able to provide our daughter with the option of stem cell therapy.”

“Before, she wasn't tracking objects with her eyes or even sitting up, and now she is. We have hope."