Why Mother’s Day Was Amazing

Family is one of life’s greatest blessing, and babies are a family’s most precious gift! A close friend’s husband Fred recently asked my advice on giving his wife who was expecting their second child, a perfect gift for Mother’s Day. Knowing my friend very well, and feeling her recent anxiety about the corona virus, I suggested something significant and personal, cord blood and tissue banking. At first, Fred shrugged with little excitement about my idea, but following my brief explanation of this gift, he became more intrigued. As I shared the power of cord blood and tissue stem cells, I explained that their newborn’s biological siblings and parents could also benefit if they faced a health crisis one day.

A few days after sharing my Mother’s Day gift idea, I heard from Fred. “What a great idea” he gleefully said, “I had no idea that newborn cord blood stem cells were actually saving lives today!” Following a bit of research, Fred learned exactly why cord blood and tissue preservation was the perfect gift for his growing family. Needless to say, Fred’s gift was received with tears of joy.

Given the uncertainty of today’s pandemic, expectant parents like my friends, are feeling a heightened sense of joy, excitement and now fear of not knowing if or how the corona virus could affect their family.

Cord blood and tissue preservation is truly an invaluable gift for all expectant parents, and not just mom’s for Mother’s Day. Let me share a few stories of survivors who received cord blood stem cell therapy and how it affected their lives. Each family has a unique story to tell, and each one would say that receiving a cord blood transplant forever changed their lives and gave them hope for the future.

When Bailey Coates was born, her parents decided to bank her cord blood privately with StemCyte. Her parents knew that the umbilical cord held powerful and smart stem cells. They understood that stem cells have incredible power to heal and treat or cure many diseases successfully. Shortly after Rebecca Coates gave birth to her beautiful daughter, Bailey, she noticed that her daughter was experiencing strange movements on the righthand side of her body. Rebecca rushed her daughter to a pediatric neurologist, where Bailey underwent an MRI. The results of the MRI were devastating to Rebecca and Bob Coates. They learned that their precious little newborn had suffered a stroke in utero and that those strange movements that she was experiencing had been infant seizures. The stroke had affected the left side of her brain. The prognosis for a normal future was just as devastating. Bailey’s chance to walk or talk was only 25% and would require intensive rehabilitation. Bailey was accepted into a clinical trial through Duke University Medical Center and began to receive infusions of her own cryopreserved stem cells safely stored with StemCyte. At 14 months, Bailey had three 15-minute intravenous infusions of her own cord blood cells, each followed by two hours of IV fluids and a three-day hospital stay. After the procedures, she learned to walk and talk and hit every milestone of a typical, healthy toddler! When the Coates decided to bank Bailey’s cord blood, they never thought in a million years that they would have to use it. As you can see, banking her cord blood was the best decision the Coates had ever made. They never felt it was too expensive as they compared it to the price of a new television. They understood the value of investing in their child’s future. It was indeed a gift that would last a lifetime!

Little Ryden Hoffmann was Heather and Neil’s fourth child. Heather’s uterus ruptured during labor, and Ryden was deprived of oxygen for 43 minutes and suffered catastrophic brain damage. He spent three weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on life support. Miraculously he began to breathe on his own, and the Hoffmann’s were able to take him home on hospice care. His diagnosis was severe cerebral palsy, a disorder that affects the brain and causes debilitating motor deficiency. Doctors told the Hoffmann’s that Ryden would never likely recognize his beautiful mom or others in his life. When Ryden turned three, Heather and Neil decided to have another baby. It would be their fifth child and would be the first time they would hear about StemCyte and the possibility of saving their child’s cord blood and tissues for future use. They were able to bank their newborn’s cord blood with StemCyte and use it for Ryden only six months later. The procedure was a success, and the results were immediate. As a four-year-old, he was able to sit up and crawl, milestones that the Hoffmann’s never believed they would see him do. Now have so much hope for Ryden’s future, and they continue to encourage other parents to save their newborn’s cord blood and tissue. A gift that keeps on giving!

To these survivors, cord blood banking was the most important thing their parents did for their future. Remember that every baby has the amazing potential to protect not only their health but also the health of their biological siblings and parents for a lifetime!

To learn more about cord blood and tissue preservation, please visit www.stemcyte.com or call (888) 885-4088 to speak with a cord blood educator.