Dr. Frances Verter is the mother of a child who passed away from leukemia, a condition that can be treated using cord blood stem cells. As a result of her experience she has, in her own words, "made it my life's mission to educate expectant parents about the value of these cells, and hopefully persuade them not to throw them away."

Verter is now the founder and executive of the Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation and its website ParentsGuidetoCordBlood.org. Recently, Dr. Verter penned an editorial for the Baltimore Sun highlighting the need for more education about banking umbilical cord blood in either public or private banks. She says: "It is heartbreaking that 70 percent of patients who need a transplant do not have a donor in their family, and yet the stem cells from a newborn's umbilical cord are routinely discarded as medical waste."

Verter also highlights some important reasons for each type of banking:

“Public cord blood banks were established to fulfill a public health need. They provide those awaiting stem cell transplants with potential donors, with the added benefit that cord blood stem cells do not need to be as perfectly matched for transplant, as do bone marrow stem cells….”

“Private banks, which collect and store cord blood for a child or family member's use, are helping to advance medical research into the use of stem cells to repair damaged tissue, a therapy that currently requires the use of an individual's own cells…. Private banks also provide a potential solution for multiracial patients in search of a match: direct access to the cord blood of a family member, which could eliminate the often-challenging search for an unrelated donor.”

Verter urges medical providers to better inform expectant parents of this important resource, as well as its current and future applications.

You can read the rest of Dr. Verter’s editorial here.