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Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2007;297:576.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Expectant parents are faced with weighing competing offers to bank their child's cord blood with a for-profit company as "biological insurance" for future family use or with public cord blood banks that make donated cord blood available to seriously ill children and adults who may benefit from cord blood transplantation. To help clarify the facts and aid physicians as they counsel expectant parents regarding these options, the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a revised policy on cord blood banking (Pediatrics. 2007;119:165-170).

The policy encourages parents to donate their newborn's cord blood to public cord banks, where it can be made available to those most in need. It discourages most parents from using private cord blood banks, which can cost thousands of dollars, noting that the chances of a child ever needing their own cord blood are very small—with estimates ranging from 1 in 1000 . . . [Full Text of this Article]