During your pregnancy, the placenta responsibly nourishes your child with almost everything that it needs to develop. And in some cases, it also protects the baby from harmful objects or ailments. However, fortunately, the usefulness of the placenta doesn’t end there.
The placenta usually contains placental cells and amnion, which can be employed in a wide range of therapies. For instance, they’ve already been used to heal diabetic ulcers and severe burns. Now, the doctors are trying to utilize it for regenerating infected wounds as well.
That’s not where it ends, though.
The advantages of the placenta are pretty wide-ranging, especially in the ever-evolving field of medical technology. Please keep reading to know more about them.
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What Is Placenta Banking?
Similar to cord tissue or cord blood banking, placenta banking is all about accumulating cells from the placenta after birth. It’s then stored in the bank for future usage. When it comes to keeping your placenta, you can primarily go for two options:
- Preserving the amniotic membrane, or
- Storing the chorionic villi (placental cells).
Usually, the latter is considered as the most common and ideal option, as it can be stored for a prolonged time limit.
What Are The Benefits Of Storing Placenta?
In essence, placenta banking is a form of regenerative medicine that is all about ensuring the well-being of your child in the future. As per reports, the aforesaid therapy can help with treating various diseases, including:
- According to a research module, placenta cells have excellent anti-inflammatory as well as healing properties. Therefore, a treatment involving the same can be used to treat critically-ill COVID-19 patients.
- The usage of placenta cells is, in essence, a proven therapy. An amniotic membrane was used in 1910 for the first time for wound dressing to promote healing. And the usage of placenta tissue has been quite common since the 1940s.
- The amniotic membrane has the potential to regulate your immune system and strengthen it to some extent. This, in turn, can lower your risk of bacterial infection. It might also reduce your chance of developing stroke, diabetes, or cardiovascular ailments later.
- Contrary to popular belief, the placenta cells can be beneficial for the whole family. This is because the placenta, or the amniotic membrane, is non-immunogenic. Hence, even if your blood type doesn’t match the donor’s, you’ll still be fine.
Placenta And The Diseases It Can Cure
The placenta cells can help in curing a wide array of ailments, including:
- Ulcers (both internal and external).
- Stroke.
- Dry eyes and burns.
- Arthritis, diabetes, and Crohn’s disease.
- Multiple sclerosis.
Aside from this, it can cure various cardiovascular diseases as well. However, we still need more proof in this regard before we can offer our verdict on it.
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
In this section, we’ll focus on answering a few queries that you may have regarding our topic. Hopefully, it’ll help you clarify everything properly and come up with a decision altogether.
How Much Does It Cost To Bank Your Placenta?
Well, it’s more of a subjective question, as the depository expense will entirely depend on the bank you’re opting for. Additionally, the duration of storage will be a prime factor in this aspect as well. In any case, on average, you may have to pay a starting price of around $1,000 to $2,000. The storage fee will be somewhere between $100 to $200.
Can The Parents Use The Placenta Cells?
Yes, definitely. As mentioned before, the placenta cells are non-immunogenic. Hence, even if your blood group doesn’t match your child’s, you can still use it for your purpose.
Is It Worth Keeping The Placenta?
Absolutely! After all, it can help you treat various diseases for yourself, your kid, as well as your family. In addition to it, the placenta cells can also protect you from pathogen and microorganism-related infections. Even if one does not decide to keep placenta cells for their own family, donating cord blood is another option to help others in need.
In Conclusion
So, there you go – that’s all you need to know about placenta banking and its benefits. If you need any other help or assistance regarding the same, you can always come to us. Just be sure to comment your thoughts down, and we’ll answer them as soon as possible.
