Mothers ready for anything

Pregnancy is a wonderful time- full of hope and anticipation. During the first trimester, you mainly sleep, recuperate and carefully observe your body and any signal that you are pregnant. You eagerly anticipate the baby’s movements. Second trimester-there is no denying that it is a pregnancy. You share all the news with your friends, sister, mother, mother-in-law, the lady in the store and the lady at the post office. You look for advice on the Internet and decide: you won’t get mad! After all, it’s not just you who are pregnant-the resolution is valid more or less until you see an ultrasound of your baby. The third trimester is already picking out a layette in full swing-you are counting down the days until the birth and want to be prepared for everything. You prophylactically point out to your husband not to forget your bag of belongings and the cord blood collection kit for the hospital. After giving birth when you get your baby in your arms-you already know that this is the being you love most in the world-you know that you will do anything for her. The moment your superpowers fail-you have cord blood cells in the family bank for a black hour.

The modern Polish mother has not changed at all on the stage of the last few years – she demands more from her partner, but she demands even more from herself. Thanks to technological conveniences, she is constantly in touch with the outside world and other mothers, advising or verifying the information she reads. Increasingly, she knows that she has to be prepared for everything, because the child needs her-so she not only gives her best at home, but also climbs the professional career ladder– Dr. Katarzyna Praissner, a cultural studies major from the University of Lodz, concludes.

However, there are situations for which it may not be prepared- these are accidents of opportunity, i.e. For example, hematological or neurological diseases. Therefore, more and more women thinking more sincerely about the future of their children than a matter of a year or two decide to obtain cord blood stem cells during childbirth – says the doctor. med. Tomasz Baran of the Polish Stem Cell Bank.

Stem cells are primordial, unspecialized cells that have tremendous potential to multiply and unique abilities to transform into all cells of the body. As a result, they can be used to rebuild or replace damaged cells and thus fight many serious hematological, oncological, metabolic and immunological diseases. They are an alternative to bone marrow and are therefore increasingly used for transplantation. It is estimated that by the end of 2016, more than 45,000 such procedures had been performed on children and adults worldwide. Several dozen transplants have been carried out in Poland to date, more than 20 of them in children. Cord blood stored at PBKM was used for most of them.