Why Your Belly Button is Worth Its Weight in Gold

Unless you’ve recently pierced your navel, you probably don’t give your belly button much thought. It’s either an innie or an outie, cute or kind of weird looking, but basically not a body part you’re likely to obsess over.

Back in the day when your umbilical cord was tied into a belly button knot and the excess snipped off and thrown away, little did anyone know that they were discarding a powerhouse of health. Recent research has demonstrated that the lining of an umbilical cord is rich with stem cells — the undifferentiated “blank slate” cells that can be prompted to grow into organs, skin, and blood.

Stem cells from umbilical cord linings and elsewhere are currently used to regrow cornea, repair wounds, and reverse the effects of aging. Umbilical cord lining stem cells also being investigated as potential therapies for up to 80 diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.

Here are some more fun facts about the origins of your navel that you probably didn’t know:

1. Your umbilical cord was you.

As soon as an egg is fertilized, it divides into two parts. One half becomes the placenta and the other half was you (as an embryo). The embryo creates a yolk sack to deliver nutrients until the placenta starts working. The umbilical cord develops from the yolk sack and embryonic cells, so it has the same genes that you do.

2. Your umbilical cord was your first jungle gym.

The umbilical cord is highly flexible. When you were a tiny fetus and still had room in the womb, you probably played with the cord and even swam through its soft tangles and loops. That’s why about 35% of babies are born with the cords slung around their necks (don’t worry; cords are flexible and that’s usually not a problem).

3. Your umbilical cord was smarter than they thought.

Turns out, all that clamping and tying off of the umbilical cord wasn’t even necessary. Umbilical cords actually sense when they’re not needed, stop working, and fall off on their own after a week or so.

However, clamping and cutting make sense these days, now that we know how valuable the cord is. Banking your baby’s umbilical cord and lining — rather than discarding it — means that you, your baby, and your family could reap health benefits from its stem cells for decades to come.

4. Your umbilical cord is a reminder of your connection to Mommy.

Next time your mom drives you crazy, just touch your belly button. You’ll be reminded that you spent nine months receiving nutrients directly from her body. The umbilical cord actually has three vessels inside it: a vein that sends blood filled with oxygen and nutrients from mom to baby; and two arteries that carry the baby’s waste products and carbon dioxide back to the placenta.

5. Your baby’s umbilical cord is a superhero.

Though it’s too late for your own discarded umbilical cord to save any lives, the same isn’t true for your baby’s. If you bank your baby’s cord lining, the stem cells can be harvested and frozen to treat future potential wounds and burns and even cure diseases.

Why Choose GlobalCord?

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A

Pregnancy Myths It's Time to Forget

From “I Love Lucy” re-runs to Reddit forums, bad advice on pregnancy abounds. Some of your most cherished beliefs about pregnancy, in fact, might not be factual at all. Here are a few pregnancy myths, debunked:

You Must Eat for Two

Depending on what trimester you’re in, it’s more like eating for 1.009. Your baby starts out as a speck, don’t forget, and only grows to about 5.5 to 10 pounds, on average. You only need to eat about 300 extra calories per day. Gaining too much weight actually puts you at risk for dangerous complications, such as pre-eclampsia.

One platitude that does hold true — doubly — is, “You are what you eat.” And so is your baby. While you might not be eating enough for two whole people, you need to eat the highest quality, most nutrient-dense foods possible so that your growing baby can create strong and healthy cells.

You Should Indulge Your Food Cravings

While the cliché of pregnant women craving “pickles and ice cream” has been around since at least 1903, just because you crave something doesn’t mean you should eat it. In fact, indulging a craving for ice cream could lead to gestational diabetes.

Your craving might be signaling your body that it lacks an important nutrient. So, find a healthier, more nutritious version of your craving.

If you develop pica — an urge to eat non-food items, such as dirt, clay, or crayons — contact your OB/GYN specialist immediately. Pica can be a sign of a deficiency in iron, zinc, or another important nutrient. Eating non-food items could expose your developing baby to lead poisoning and should never be indulged.

You Can’t Have Intercourse

Unless you have a high-risk pregnancy and your physician has specifically told you to avoid getting intimate, it’s OK to get frisky with your partner. Your baby is protected by amniotic fluid, the amniotic sac, your abdominal muscles, and a mucus plug that blocks your cervix, preventing sperm from entering the uterus.

You Shouldn’t Exercise

Exercise is actually an important part of keeping your baby (and yourself) healthy. Exercise releases endorphins that make you both feel happy and relaxed.

Exercise also strengthens your heart, muscles, and veins. Regular walking or jogging gently even prevents dreaded varicose veins. Your doctor can help you choose the best exercise regimen for each trimester.

Banking Cord Blood Is Enough

You’ve heard that banking your baby’s cord blood is a new kind of health-insurance policy that lets your child — and other family members — draw from the banked stem cells in a health crisis. While that’s true, cord blood only contains hematopoietic progenitor stem cells, which have limited applications. To give you and your family access to a full array of stem cells — mesenchymal and epithelial stem cells— you need to bank your baby’s umbilical cord tissue, too.

Choose GlobalCord

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A

Preparing a Birth Plan for Your Big Day

When you’re in the middle of an exciting and exhausting labor and delivery, the last thing you need to do is get into a long and detailed discussion of exactly how you want the birth of your cherished child to proceed! And if your baby decides to make an unexpectedly early appearance, you may not have the time or resources to remind your partner and other family and friends exactly where and how you want your baby’s first day to start.

Writing out a birth plan long before your delivery date and sharing it with your partner, doctor, midwife, and anyone else who might be helping you that day ensures that everyone is on the same page. Even friends and family who aren’t actively involved in labor and delivery should get a copy, just in case your baby decides to emerge when you’re having brunch with your aunt in the next town over. If your aunt has your birth plan on her SmartPhone, she’ll know just who to call and what to do.

Never thought about a birth plan? Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Where is your preferred hospital or birthing center?

This may seem like an obvious point, but since babies have their own time schedule, your partner or midwife might not be present when you go into labor. Write down the address of where you’re hoping to deliver and — just in case your baby is coming too quickly or there’s evidence of complications — give a second choice, as well. For instance, even if you want a home birth or a water birth in a birthing center, provide the address of a nearby hospital, too.

2. Who do you want on your birthing team?

Write down your midwife or doctor’s name and contact info. Also, include the contact info of everyone you want present when you go into labor and delivery. That may just be your partner. Or it may be an extended family and your closest friends.  It’s your party! You control the invites.

3. What’s your pain management plan?

If you’ve opted for a natural birth, do you want to order your team to ignore your screams for relief? Or are you open to an epidural or other pain management? Write it down.

4. Where does baby go?

When midwives in the UK were asked what they’d put on their birth plan, one said she wanted to have her baby placed on her body rather than in her arms. That increase of skin-to-skin contact made the experience more intimate for both her and her baby.

5. What happens to the umbilical cord?

If you’ve arranged to have your baby’s stem cells harvested from the umbilical cord once it’s been removed, be sure to put that in your birth plan. And be sure that your GlobalCord representative is copied on your birth plan too.

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord. Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

How the Foods You Eat Nourish Your Growing Baby

While myths about pregnancy and food cravings abound, one thing is for sure: When you’re helping to build your baby’s cells and organs as well as your own, you have to be even more diligent about what you eat. The American College of Gynecologists only recommends gaining 25 to 35 pounds throughout your pregnancy if you’re already a healthy weight. And those pounds should come from vegetables, fruits, and high-quality protein, not ice cream and pickles.

Womb Dining Affects Later Health

Whatever you eat gets broken down into your digestive system and passed to your baby through your blood via the placenta and later the umbilical cord, too. Research has shown that if your baby doesn’t get the right nourishment in the womb, he could grow up to have chronic diseases.

Insufficient nourishment forces the developing fetus to divert nutrients from the kidneys, for instance, to be sure that the brain develops properly. Later, the child could be born with kidney problems and might even go on to develop diabetes.

Your Baby Eats From You, Too

Your baby doesn’t just rely on the foods you eat every day to build strong cells, bones, and organs. Your body actually breaks down your own muscle, bone, and fat stores that you’ve accumulated over your lifetime to ensure that your fetus has a continual supply of nutrients.  So, if you were undernourished as a child or teenager, or have current nutritional imbalances, that affects your fetus, too.

Even as a fertilized egg travels down the fallopian tube to your uterus for implantation, it gets a sense of your body’s nutritional environment. It then uses that information to make decisions about how to distribute nutrients to the various developing organs and systems.

Baby’s First Servers: Placenta and Umbilical Cord

Your baby’s first source of food is the placenta. Baby and placenta both started out as something called a blastocyte. The inner blastocyte cells became the embryo, while the outer blastocyte cells filled with blood from your uterus. The embryo and placenta are connected by a little stalk surrounded by a primitive umbilical ring.

As your baby grows, the little stalk that connects it to the placenta also begins to grow and develops two arteries and a vein. When the fetus’s gastrointestinal system develops, it protrudes through the stalk, eventually forming the umbilical cord. Now you and the placenta feed your baby through his (someday) belly button!

Beyond Nutrition Toward Greater Health

The umbilical cord is your baby’s lifeline, conveying blood, oxygen, and nutrition to the developing fetus. In addition to being an important conduit, the cord itself is made of up amazing cells called stem cells that you can harvest at a later date by banking your baby’s umbilical cord after it’s tied off at delivery.

Stem cells banked at CellResearchCorp’s Global Cord Registry can be prompted to develop into other kinds of cells, including skin cells and organs, to help your baby and other family members in later years. Stem cells are used to heal wounds and burns and to treat chronic illnesses.

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord. Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement. GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Will a C-Section Affect Your Cord Tissue Banking Plan?

You’ve been considering banking your baby’s umbilical cord lining because of its vast therapeutic potential. You know that the stem cells from cord lining tissue could benefit both your baby and other family members for decades to come.

However, you read somewhere that you need to take extra precautions when having a C-section. Is it true?

Your doctor’s told you that you’ll need to deliver your baby by Cesarean section. Or, you know from your family and medical history that you may be at higher risk for C-section.

Luckily, the answer is No: A C-section has absolutely no effect on the process of saving and banking your baby’s umbilical cord lining. Removing and storing umbilical cord lining tissue is the same for C-sections as it is for a vaginal birth.

C-Section Cord-Tissue Banking Requires No Changes

Special arrangements are not needed for banking cord lining tissue if a C-section procedure becomes necessary. Once your baby’s cord is clamped and cut, it’s brought outside the surgical area to the collection kit. No special new arrangements are needed.

The process itself is so simple and so much a part of the actual birth that you won’t even notice it happening. And there are no delays that affect yield; you’ll get the same amount of stem-cell-rich cord lining with a C-section as you would with a vaginal birth.

Your baby’s stem-cell-rich cord lining is then prepared for transport and delivery. Once at a facility that is licensed by GlobalCord, it undergoes a patented process that extracts the highest quality stem cells from the cord and are cryopreserved for future use. A section of cord is also sent to the head laboratories of GlobalCord where it undergoes stringent quality control tests to check for stem cell presence, their viability for future use, their ability to proliferate, among others. Parents whose cords are stored in the GlobalCord Registry can even login in to check the actual stem cell numbers derived from their cord.

One Decision, One Step

You have enough to think about and do while preparing to bring a beautiful new life into the world. Simplify by choosing cord lining banking that requires no extra steps or changes if you need a C-section.

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Can Cord Blood Make You Smarter in Your Old Age?

Was there really a time in human history when older people were venerated for their wisdom, insight, and prodigious memories? When you’re over 50 and can’t find your car keys, or even your car after you park it in a multi-level parking lot, the idea of accruing wisdom with old age seems like a quaint myth.

Remember to Make Your Bed

A study from Stanford University School of Medicine, published in the April 2017 issue of Nature, however, suggests that there may be hope for Baby Boomers hoping to impress Millennials with their vast stores of impressive facts. When Stanford researchers injected blood taken from human umbilical cords into elderly mice, the geezers started acting young again. How young? Well, they started creating cozy beds out of cotton wads — a skill they’d forgotten before the rejuvenating injections. (Maybe they’re anticipating “company,” thanks to their renewed energy?)

Remember Where You Parked That Car, After All

The scientists conducted experiments using blood plasma from people in their 20s, some human oldsters in their 60s and 70s, and plasma from newborn umbilical cords. Lead researcher Joseph M. Castellano, PhD said that the elderly mice weren’t impressed by the blood of their human counterparts, showing no improvement in memory or learning. Likewise, the Millennial blood results were only “meh.”

The old mice lucky enough to receive cord blood plasma, though, not only remembered to make their beds, they were also better at remembering their way out of mazes that they’d successfully navigated in the past.

Remember All the Bad Things That Ever Happened to You

The mice who received the umbilical plasma also scored higher on a second memory test. This time, the researchers put the mice into a small chamber and then administered a slight shock to their tiny bare feet. When the mice were brought back into the chamber some time later, those who’d received plasma remembered that unpleasant shock and froze in fear. The mice who hadn’t received cord plasma totally blanked out the earlier experience and just went fearlessly about their mouse business.

Castellano and his team dissected the mice’s brains and examined their hippocampi — the part of mouse and human brains that converts experiences into long-term memories. They noted that genes responsible for making new memories had been turned on in some of the mice, suggesting that the plasma had flicked that switch.

Remember to Take Your TIMP2

The magic memory bullet that gave the cord blood plasma its reparative powers turned out to be a protein called TIMP2. Just to be sure, researchers injected some old mice with plasma that lacked TIMP2, and some others with TIMP2 alone. Plasma by itself didn’t help their memories at all. However, the TIMP2 mice showed improvements in memory and learning.

Before you start adding TIMP2 to your Bulletproof Coffee each morning to beat back the hipsters at work, Castellano and his team were quick to point out that mice are not people. It will take a lot more research and experimentation to determine if TIMP2 can improve memory and learning in older human adults.

There may be a good reason why adults no longer produce TIMP2. It’s possible that its effects could be harmful to humans after a certain age. In fact, according to Irina Conboy, a researcher from the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in aging and degenerative diseases, TIMP2 levels are actually elevated in patients with Alzheimer’s and other neurogenerative diseases.

Don’t Forget About This Study

Nevertheless, the perky old mice have excited scientists the world over who think that cord blood holds hope for rejuvenating aging brains. In the meantime, there are lots of current therapies that are being developed using stem cells extracted from umbilical cord linings, including anti-aging cosmeceuticals and therapies for chronic diseases, such as diabetes and Parkinson’s. If you are planning a family or expecting a child, you can get started on a better future for your family by cord tissue banking today.

Choose GlobalCord

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Make Your Baby Super Healthy for a Super New Year

Whether you’re already pregnant or hoping to become so, 2018 is the perfect time to start building better habits to make a healthy new baby and a healthy new you. It’s more important than ever that your body is strong and flexible enough to handle all the stresses that pregnancy and motherhood bring. And, of course, all of the great things that you do for your body can get passed to your baby through the umbilical cord.

1. Nourish Cells With Superfoods

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight or switch to healthier foods. While chocolate cake may be tempting and taste good, it’s really not building the strong, resilient cells that you and your baby need. Go for superfoods instead, and imagine how much good all of the nutrients you’re eating are doing for your body and for your baby’s body.

Add in greens — everywhere! Kale and spinach are easily incorporated into smoothies and sauces. Pile colorful vegetables and tart fruits like strawberries into your salads. Top every dish with some kind of crisped, sauteed, or minced veggie or herb.

Go for happy, high-quality proteins. Protein helps you burn calories more efficiently and tastes great, too. Whenever possible, choose animal proteins from animals that were treated well for the best protein-fat ratios and minimal chemicals. Experiment with nutrient-dense organ meats to make delicious and nutritious pates. If you’re vegan or vegetarian, be sure the nuts, seeds, and grains you buy are high quality and fresh.

Don’t have time to cook? Look into the latest electronic pressure cookers and all of the websites filled with delicious one-pot meals. Your OBGYN will give you more advice about which foods to emphasize or avoid. And make sure you take your prenatal vitamins every day so your baby gets the folic acid she needs to build healthy neural tubes.

2. Hydrate With Water

Whether filtered or straight from the tap, water is still the healthiest beverage for you and your baby. You should drink at least 8 to 10 glasses per day. If you crave more flavor or fizz, you can choose a carbonated mineral water and add a bit of fruit juice, apple cider vinegar, lemon or lime. Green tea is one of the most hydrating beverages around and is full of anti-oxidants. However, it has caffeine, too, which you should limit once you become pregnant.

3. Stretch and Strengthen

If you exercise regularly, talk to your doctor about how you should modify your routine during each stage of your pregnancy. Be extra aware of aches or pains, and be sure to alert your physician if you experience any discomfort or dizziness during exercise.

If you’ve been avoiding the gym and other activities, now’s the time to start building up and stretching your muscles, toning your core, and maximizing your lung capacity. But don’t rush! Starting with just 5 minutes per day is a super easy way to acclimate yourself to your new routine. Each week, tack on another 5 minutes. Before you know it, you’ll be getting your recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise.

Focus on exercises that are low impact, like swimming, water aerobics, low-impact aerobics, and yoga. Brisk walking is a great way to start the day and get your vitamin D from the sunshine. You can hit the StairMaster and ellipticals at the gym, or try a cycling class. Lightweight training can strengthen your bones and muscles.

Your OBGYN will probably recommend Kegel exercises to help strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Find movements and activities that are enjoyable, like dancing or bike riding with friends. Always be sure your exercise routine has your doctor's OK.

4. Chill

You may have been toying with the idea of meditating. Now’s the perfect time to try it. Staying stress-free helps you have an easier pregnancy and benefits your baby, too. Set aside time for massages and spa days. If you’re budget is limited, get the massage from your partner and the “spa” by throwing some scented bath salts in the tub. Listen to your favorite music, take walks in nature, and spend time talking to your baby!

5. Think Ahead

Another way to optimize health for your baby and you — and other family members, too — is to bank your baby’s stem-cell-rich umbilical cord lining with GlobalCord. Stem cells can be used to speed the healing of wounds and burns, and slow down skin aging. They’re also being used in research to help treat chronic conditions, such as diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. In 2018, cord blood and cord lining banking is an important strategy for your baby’s long-term health.

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord. Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure, which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Helpful Tips for Taking Care of Your Newborn

A newborn baby is the most precious thing you will ever hold. If you’re about to become a brand new parent, you may be anxious about holding him “right,” feeding him enough and bathing him correctly.

If you have family members, a baby nurse, or a babysitter who is willing to help you in the first few weeks as you adjust to your new routine, you should feel free to say “Yes!” You need all the helping, loving hands you can get. Here are a few tips to prepare you for basic newborn care.

1. Bathing

Babies only need to be bathed about two or three times a week until they are a year old.

Until your baby’s umbilical cord drops off, you should only give her baby sponge baths. You can clean her on a changing table or other soft surface with a bowl of warm (not hot) water nearby. Use a washcloth dipped in the warm water to clean her eyes, nose, and ears. You can use a little baby soap to clean her face and body, but be sure to rinse with warm water.

To clean around the umbilical cord stub that extends from the navel, soak some cotton balls in warm water, squeeze out the excess and gently swab the stump and the area around the cord. Discard the cotton balls.

If she needs her hair washed, use just a small amount of diluted baby shampoo and rinse it off with a damp sponge or washcloth.

Wrap baby in a towel and pat dry, then dress her immediately to keep her warm and clean.

The umbilical cord should fall off in about one to four weeks. At that point, you can bathe baby in an infant tub with just two or three inches of warm water. She can lie face up as you gently massage soap and water onto her body, being careful not to get any soap in her eyes. Drizzle a little warm water on her tummy from time to time to prevent her from becoming cold. Pat her dry with a soft clean towel and dress her to prevent chills.

2. Feeding

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends breastfeeding the baby for her first 6 months at least to build up her immune system. Breast milk has all of the nutrients a growing baby needs, plus it contains antibodies that protect against disease. Breastfeeding also offers skin-to-skin contact that helps mothers and infants bond.

If you weren’t able to take a breastfeeding class during your pregnancy, be sure to have a nurse show you the correct way to latch the baby and encourage him to nurse before you leave the hospital. Breastfed babies should be fed every time they cry for food.

If you can’t breastfeed, or choose not to do so, a commercial baby formula provides newborns with all of their nutritional requirements. Formula feeding makes it possible for other family members and caretakers to help with baby’s meals.

Bottles of baby formula or breast milk should only be warmed up by holding them under running hot water or by setting them in a pan of warm water (not on the stove).

Never microwave the milk or formula; microwave ovens tend to heat unevenly. Even if the formula seems like a comfortable temperature, it could have hidden hot spots that could burn your baby’s mouth.

Newborn babies should be fed every one to three hours. You should keep track of each of your feedings, but if your baby is hungry, she’ll usually let you know! Here are some signs that your baby’s ready to eat:

• He licks his lips

• He sucks his fingers, tongue, feet, or clothes

• He opens and closes his mouth

• He turns his head from side to side

Try to feed your baby as soon as she shows signs of hunger. Waiting until she cries makes feeding more difficult.

3. Sleeping

Your baby is doing a lot of energy-intensive growing and learning, and will probably sleep between 14 and 19 hours a day. Breastfed babies wake up for food more frequently than bottle-fed babies; about every 2 hours and every 3 to 4 hours, respectively.

Babies should be placed face up on a firm mattress to minimize the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Do not put blankets, bumper pads, toys, or other objects in the crib or on the bed with your baby.

Always dress baby for room temperature. If the nape of her neck is damp, she is overheated and overdressed. She can have a pacifier in the crib to help her sleep.

Baby should be swaddled at night and day until she’s about 1-month-old. You can continue swaddling at night until she is almost 2-months-old, but be sure to stop before that age or as soon as your baby is able to turn herself.

You need to train your baby to recognize the difference between day and night by keeping lights low and minimizing play or stimulating interactions at night. But don’t try to keep her up during the day — if she doesn’t get the naps she needs, she may have disrupted sleep and have even more difficulty falling into slumber at night.

If your newborn wakes up at night, rocking or singing him to sleep won’t spoil her; in fact, it will probably help him sleep sooner and better.

4. Take Care of Her Future

To help ensure your baby’s health and safety throughout his life, consider cord tissue banking/storage. If you make arrangements before birth, you can bank her umbilical cord as soon as she’s born. The health-giving stem cells are extracted and stored until she or another family member is ready to use them.

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Cool Things to Do When You’re Pregnant

If you have a new baby on the way, you’re probably feeling overwhelmed with all of the things you need to do to prepare. From getting serious about getting healthy to finding the most awesome OB/GYN and doula ever, there’s a lot on your plate. In addition to health- and safety-related preparations, don’t forget to throw in some fun things too, to make this special period in your life unforgettable.

The following are pregnancy tips filled with tasks and treats you can do, trimester by trimester:

First Trimester (Weeks 1 to 13)

1. Make sure you're pregnant! Sometimes being late is just being late, so be sure to verify your pregnancy with a visit to your doctor.

2. Be sure to do your research on OB/GYNs, doulas, and pediatricians. Check out online reviews and meet a few face-to-face to find your (and your baby’s) perfect match.

3. Get the boring stuff out of the way. If morning sickness hasn’t set in yet, now’s a great time to do all the headachy paperwork and research you’ll need to do to ensure that you and your baby are safe and cared for, such as:

• Finding out what your health insurance covers

• Getting cost estimates for pregnancy and delivery

• Working out a budget

• Finding out what your company’s pregnancy and new-parent leave policies are

• Arranging for help and childcare after delivery

• Arranging for life insurance and guardianship… just in case

4. Start scrapbooking and journaling! Soon you’ll have sonograms of your baby and before you know it, photos and footprints. Create a scrapbook, journal, or some combination now so that you’ll have a record of this precious time in your life that can be passed down through the family for generations.

5. Go for health! You’ve been meaning to give up smoking and alcohol? Now’s the time to do it. Replace unhealthy chemicals and foods with vibrant, rich, colorful, fresh fruits and vegetables. Drink plenty of water. Check with your doctor about other diet modifications you can make to have the healthiest baby possible.

6. Make it official: Buy your first bottle of prenatal vitamins. If you weren’t already on prenatals before conception, be sure to get your doctor’s recommendations for a folic-acid rich (600 mcg) prenatal vitamin that can help your baby avoid neural tube defects, plus promote safe and healthy development.

7. Get tested. Depending on your and your partner’s family history, you may need genetic testing. Your doctor may also order chorionic villous sampling (CVS) and a nuchal translucency exam to screen for chromosomal abnormalities.

Second Trimester (Weeks 14 to 26)

1. Sign up for classes: Prenatal yoga, childbirth-prep classes such as Lamaze, breastfeeding classes, and big-sibling classes (if your baby will have one) all fill up quickly, so be sure to get on the list as soon as you can.

2. Go shopping! If you haven’t needed a pregnancy bra until now, you will soon. Bring some girlfriends or your partner so you can model pregnancy clothes as you try them on. Start making the rounds of baby furniture stores to find the perfect bedroom set for your little one.

3. Test, tests, and more tests. Your doctor may order amniocentesis if you’re 35 or older to rule out Down syndrome, spina bifida, and other disorders. Your glucose is tested to rule out gestational diabetes. You can also ask about a multiple marker test that identifies neural tube defects and other disorders.

4. Boy? Girl? If you wish, now’s the time to find out what sex your baby is!

5. Make a plan: Traditional hospital birth? At home with a doula? Just you, your love, and baby-on-the-way, or the whole clan? Make your final decisions about delivery, post-partum help and childcare now — so you can get your first choices.

6. Hit the books (or Google)! You and your partner can learn about parenting by reading books, searching online, and by taking classes.

Third Trimester (Weeks 27 to 40)

1. Pack that suitcase! Make sure your suitcase is packed and ready to go the hospital when you are. Fill it with nursing bras, nightgowns, baby clothes, and blankets.

2. Stock up: Get the necessities, like a car seat, stroller, baby wipes, breast pads, more diapers than you’d ever dreamed you’d need, bibs, burp pads, blankets, swaddling, and toys!

3. Take a shower! Now’s the time to let your friends and family rain down on you with gifts, love, and high-calorie cupcakes. Ask a friend to arrange a baby shower for you, if they haven’t already. You’ve got enough to do!

4. Fill your freezer. When you come home from the hospital, you and your partner won’t want to spend time wondering what to make for dinner or how to make it. Pre-cook and freeze enough meals to last a couple of weeks. Or get ready to hit your favorite online delivery services.

5. Bank on your baby’s health. To ensure that your baby and other blood-related family members have access to the life-giving stem cells that are abundant in the lining of your baby’s umbilical cord, be sure to arrange for cord lining banking. If you don’t make this arrangement in advance, the cord will be discarded as medical waste after your baby is born and the stem cells will be lost forever. Stem cells from cord tissue storage may help prevent and treat diseases such as wounds, burns, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease.

Why Choose GlobalCord?

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure, which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Common Questions About Cord Tissue Banking

Preparing for a new baby to arrive means that you are constantly making decisions to ensure her health and safety. You research the safest cribs and strollers, debate how long to breastfeed, and buy safety covers for your electrical outlets and the corners of tables and other furniture. You make sure to take your recommended vitamins and see your OB/GYN regularly for prenatal care. You’ve even arranged for your baby’s cord blood to be stored or future health treatments.

Then you hear about cord tissue banking. What’s that? Is it important for your baby’s health? Do you really need to do it?

The following Q&A can help you decide if cord lining stem cell storage is the right decision to protect the health of your baby and blood-related family members:

Q. Why should I store my baby’s umbilical cord tissue?

A. Your baby’s umbilical cord lining is the human body’s single richest and purest source of stem cells — the undifferentiated, basic, “blank slate” cells that can be prompted to become many other types of cells. There are two types of cord tissue stem cells, each of which can be differentiated into myriad other cells:

Epithelial cells, which can become skin, heart, neural, corneal, mucosal, liver, islet, and other soft organ cells.

Mesenchymal cells, which can become bone, cartilage, muscle, heart, and fat cells.

If you don’t store your baby’s umbilical cord, these precious, potentially life-saving stem cells will be discarded as medical waste and lost forever.

Q. Can’t I get stem cells from my own bone marrow or other tissues if my baby or another relative needs them?

A. Adult bone marrow yields only 2 million stem cells, but just 330 cm2 of an umbilical cord lining yields 6 billion stem cells. Cord lining stem cells are also obtained non-invasively and are easy to process.

Because they are young, cord tissue stem cells are much more vigorous than those found in adult tissue. They can divide up to 30 times without degrading, which means that those 6 billion cells can easily become 180 billion cells.

Cord lining stem cells also express HLA-E and HLA-G — immunomodulators that make the cells resistant to rejection. That means — unlike cord blood — cord lining stem cells don’t have to be HLA matched for transplantation.

Q. What diseases can cord tissue help treat?

A. Because mesenchymal and epithelial stem cells can be morphed into just about any type of cell in the human body, the potential for future treatments is virtually limitless.

Right now, CellResearch Corporation — GlobalCord’s parent company — has research partners around the world working on groundbreaking cord lining stem cell therapies for:

• Hemophilia A    

• Heart disease    

• Parkinson’s disease    

• Wound resurfacing    

• Burn treatment    

• Diabetes        

• Ocular surface disorders    

• Bone repair and replacement    

• Cartilage repair and replacement    

• Hearing and balance disorders    

Q. Who benefits from the preserved cord tissue?

A. Your baby, his siblings, you, your spouse, your parents, in-laws, and potentially many other blood relatives could all benefit from stem cell therapies derived from your baby’s cord tissue. Because the stem cells are HLA expressors, no HLA matching is necessary.

If anyone in your family has a serious or life-threatening illness, suffers severe wounds or burns, or develops a chronic condition, the banked tissue could help restore their health or even save their life.

Q. Will my baby be hurt when the umbilical cord is banked?

A. Cutting off the unneeded umbilical cord is a standard part of the birthing process, with or without cord banking. If you don’t bank your baby’s umbilical cord, it will be discarded as medical waste.

Banking the cord poses no danger to either the mother or the baby, and will not interfere with your birth plans, whether vaginal or cesarean.

Q. How long will the cord tissue stem cells be available to my family?

A. If you opt for stem cell storage with GlobalCord, your baby’s stem cells will last indefinitely. That means your baby might choose to use them when he’s a father or grandfather himself. GlobalCord’s unique quality control and cryopreservation protocols ensure that your umbilical cord lining stem cells are ready when you need them.

Q. Can’t I just save money by banking my baby’s cord publicly?

A. Nine out of ten publicly stored cords are discarded. If you need your baby’s cord in the future, it may not be available. It also costs about $40,000 to retrieve the cord stem cells, if they are needed.

Q. What is the process of storing the cord tissue with GlobalCord?

A. If you’ve arranged to bank your baby’s cord tissue with GlobalCord, a sterile Collection Kit and instructions will be provided to your caregiver. After your baby is delivered, his umbilical cord is clamped and cut as per every birth. The staff then draws blood from the umbilical cord and places it in an FDA-approved sterile bag. A 4” to 8” segment of the cord is cleaned and cut to place in a container for transport to the laboratory.

The Collection Kit should be kept at room temperature. A medical courier will pick up your collection kit from your hospital room and deliver it to GlobalCord within 24 to 48 hours, where our staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to process, test, separate, and cryogenically store your baby's stem cells.

Why Choose GlobalCord?

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Should I Store My Baby’s Umbilical Cord?

Once upon a time, nobody thought about umbilical cords after they’d been cut and tied off into “belly buttons.” The only concern at that point was whether the baby had an “innie” or an “outtie.”

But now we realize that the umbilical cord is a precious resource that may one day save a baby’s life. Or yours. The tissue that lines the outer membrane of the umbilical cord is rich with undifferentiated stem cells that can be transformed differentiated into myriad of other cells. Differentiated cells from umbilical cord tissue may one day help to manage or even cure common diseases and disorders. such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, and even cancer.

But I already plan on banking my baby’s cord blood!

Storing umbilical cord tissue is a simple additional step to cord blood banking, and simply increases your baby’s ‘bio-insurance’ package. So now, in addition to banking blood precursor cells, you will also save the epithelial and mesenchymal stem cells of the umbilical cord lining,

Practically this means that you have now saved:

• Haematopoietic stem cells which can be morphed into blood cells,
• Mesenchymal Stem Cells which can be morphed into a variety of structural cells e.g. cartilage, bone, muscle
• Epithelial Stem Cells which can be morphed into surface lining cells e.g. skin, cornea, islet cells of the pancreas, to name a few.

A further, and potentially much more important, step than banking just the cord blood. Cord blood contains hematopoietic stem cells, which can be induced to become blood cells that may be able to treat blood-related disorders.

The umbilical cord lining, however, has two different kinds of stem cells —mesenchymal stem cells and epithelial progenitor cells — which means they can differentiate into just about any kind of non-blood cell a body could need:

Fat, cartilage, bone, nerve, heart, brain, and lung cells (from mesenchymal stem cells)        

Skin, liver, pancreas, spleen, and other soft organ cells (from epithelial progenitor cells)    

Will my baby be able to use these cord lining stem cells?

With luck, neither your baby nor anyone in your family will ever need to use the cord stem cells that you have banked! However, you’ve banked in stem cell storage. But, if you’ve banked them with GlobalCord, they’ll be there for you when you need them. if you do need them.

Because cord lining stem cells come from your baby’s own body, they will be readily accepted by the body’s immune system when transplanted. These neonatal stem cells highly robust, very proliferative, and also express anti-rejection factors. They may one day even be a source of stem cells for family members needing stem cell therapy.

That means that your parents, or even your grandparents, may benefit from treatments that are currently being developed with cord lining stem cells for conditions such as:

• Arthritis               

• Bone and cartilage disorders including Arthritis       

• Parkinson’s disease  

• Diabetes               

• Hemophilia A

• Heart disease   

• Hearing and balance disorders

• Corneal disorders     

• Wound healing         

• Burn treatment         

• Broken bone treatment           

And this is just a partial list of the research that is being done with mesenchymal and epithelial stem cells!

Can cord lining stem cells be used for non-medical treatments?

Since stem cells from cord lining can be morphed into skin cells, they can be used to help treat signs of aging. Our parent company, CellResearch Corporation. (CRC) has developed a cosmeceuticals line based on Cord Lining Stem Cell technology that effectively targets aging skin, helping improve skin health and to smoothening deep folds and wrinkles. This skincare line, called CALECIM® Professional has also been shown to improve skin laxity and pigmentation.

How long will the stem cells last?

If you bank your baby’s cord with GlobalCord, the stem cells will be analyzed, processed, and cryopreserved using a proprietary protocol developed by CRC. These strict protocols ensure that your baby’s cord lining stem cells will remain viable and ready for your baby’s and family’s future medical and anti-aging needs. We know that stem cells can be functionally viable for at least two decades after of cryogenic storage. Potentially, they could last for much longer.

Why should I pay for something I never use?

Cord tissue storage is bio-insurance, you can compare it to comparable to purchasing healthcare, car, and life insurance. You hope you never need them, but if you do, you’re glad to have them. They Cord tissue banking may one day save the life of someone you love.

What if I don’t bank my baby’s cord-lining stem cells?

If you opt not to bank your baby’s umbilical cord stem cells, the umbilical cord — and the billions of life-giving stem cells it contains — will be discarded as medical waste after it has been severed after baby’s birth.                                                                                                 

The cord cannot be retrieved nor replicated after it has been discarded.

Make Sure That The Precious Cord Can Be Used

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service which is part of the GlobalCord network that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord tissue.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, non-licensed these cord blood banks and medical institutions that offer use CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies —protocols- including treatment protocols-  are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure, which extends to 431 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Healthy Exercise Tips During Your Pregnancy

When you’re pregnant, it’s more important than ever to keep your body fit and strong. As your baby grows and your body changes shape, you may experience discomfort such as backaches, bloating, swelling, and constipation. Though these changes may make you feel uncomfortable, they are all signs that you should be exercising more, not less.

But “more” may not mean the same thing as it did before you were pregnant. You should modify your exercise regimen depending on which trimester you are in to respect your body’s changing needs. There are also extra health precautions you must be aware of and should discuss with your obstetrician.

How Will Exercise Help Me and My Growing Baby?

Pregnancy creates new stresses on your joints, ligaments, and muscles. Your ligaments may become swollen due to an influx of hormones, which can make them more susceptible to injury.

Exercising gently and mindfully helps you keep your muscles and joints strong so that you can accommodate the extra pounds and the resulting shift to the center of gravity in your body.

Because you are now living for two, you need to take in more oxygen as well as consume an additional 300 healthy calories per day. Exercise infuses your and your baby’s cells with oxygen. It can give you an energy boost, fight depression, and help you sleep better.

Other benefits of an appropriate exercise regimen are:

• Increases muscle tone and strength

• Increases endurance

• Reduces backaches

• Reduces swelling

• Regulates the bowels

• Reduces the risk of gestational diabetes

• Increases levels of feel-good hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin

• May reduce the length of labor

• May speed your recovery from childbirth

• Increases your baby’s health

By taking care of your body, eating well, and exercising regularly with your doctor’s OK, you’re not just preventing excessive weight gain, you’re also building strength and endurance for you and your baby for the later stages of pregnancy and delivery.

What’s the Right Kind of Exercise During Pregnancy?

The kinds of exercises that are best for you and your baby during your pregnancy may vary not only by trimester but also by your baseline activity and fitness level. Always be sure to alert your obstetrician about your exercise routines, any changes or additions you might want to make, and any side effects you may experience.

If you’re new to exercise, take it slow and start with 5 minutes of a gentle workout a day. Add in another 5 minutes each week until you’ve reached 30 minutes a day. You should continue that throughout the rest of your pregnancy… and then the rest of your life!

If you’re already exercising regularly, you can probably continue your normal routine… but check with your doctor first! Also, read below for activities to avoid and for warning signs that your routine should be altered.

If you’re a professional athlete or a high-level competitor, work closely with your obstetrician to monitor your health and activity level.

Some pregnancy-friendly exercises include:

• Low-impact aerobics

• Water aerobics

• Brisk walking

• Dancing

• Swimming

• Stretching

• Cycling

• Elliptical or stair machines at the gym

• Yoga —but avoid inversions and hot yoga

• Kegel exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor

• Light weight training

Some exercises may need to be altered or stopped, particularly in the 3rd trimester:

High-intensity sports. Your shifting center of gravity may make it difficult to keep your balance when turning or jumping in tennis, basketball, or other sports.

Running. As you move into your 3rd trimester, you may get winded more easily. Listen to your body and slow down when you feel you need more oxygen.

Do I Need to Take Extra Precautions?

Pregnancy creates many new stresses on your body. You will heat up faster than normal, tire more easily, and may move with more difficulty. The following habits can help you adjust to your changing needs:

• Drink more water before, during, and after workouts (at least 10 eight oz. glasses a day)

• Avoid saunas and hot tubs

• Avoid changes in altitude

• Avoid contact sports and other risky activities

Don’t berate yourself if you have to modify or cut down on your normal exercise routine! As long as you are getting 30 minutes a day of gentle exercise, your body — and your baby — will thank you.

Are There Any Types of Exercises I Should Avoid?

Avoid any exercises that require:

• Holding your breath

• Falling

• Jumping

• Hopping

• Skipping

• Bouncing

• Deep knee bends

• Sit ups

• Waist twisting

• Inversions

• Exercising in hot or humid conditions

• Burst intensity

• Anything where you might be accidentally hit in the abdomen

• Jarring motions

• Quick changes in direction

When Do I Need to Stop Exercising?

If you have any medical problems, such as heart disease, lung disease, asthma, or diabetes, your doctor and obstetrician will let you know which exercises are safe for you.

If you’ve developed any conditions during your pregnancy, exercise may be more harmful than beneficial. Avoid exercise if you have:

• Bleeding

• Spotting

• Low placenta

• Previous miscarriages

• Previous premature births

• Previous early labor

• Weak cervix

• Multiple pregnancies that may induce premature labor

• Premature rupture of membranes

• Severe anemia

If you experience any of the following while exercising, stop immediately and seek medical care:

• Chest pain

• Dizziness

• Headache

• Muscle weakness

• Lack of fetal movement

• Swelling or pain in your calves

• Vaginal leakage or spotting

• Vaginal bleeding

Keep Everyone Healthy After Birth, Too

After a healthy nine months of diet and exercise, and a healthy delivery, you can further ensure your and your baby’s health by banking her stem-cell-rich umbilical cord for future medical use. Cord lining stem cells can also help other blood-related family members.

When considering cord lining banking, make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem celltherapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Healthy Eating During Your Pregnancy

When you’re pregnant, you’re not just “eating for two” — as the old adage goes - but exercising for two, relaxing for two, and even listening to music for two (or more, if it’s a multiple birth!). The food you eat helps feed your baby through the umbilical cord that runs from the placenta into its digestive system.

The intimate relationship between your health and your baby’s health makes it more essential than ever to strengthen your own body with proper nutrition and exercise. Focusing on food that’s rich in high-quality nutrients will help your baby grow strong and healthy.

More Calories, Better Calories

Doctors recommend that you consume an extra 300 calories per day during pregnancy. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to load up on ice cream sundaes and potato chips! You need to find colorful, flavorful, whole foods that are nutrient dense and low in glycemia for an optimal nutritional punch.

But What About Morning Sickness?

Eating at all during the first trimester of pregnancy can be difficult due to increased nausea. Work with your doctor to find natural remedies, such as ginger, to control nausea and try to find bland but healthy foods that you can easily digest, such as boiled chicken and sweet potatoes, along with your physician’s recommended prenatal vitamins.

Add More Color to Your Life

Once you can tolerate regular meals, a great place to start improving your diet is just by adding more fruits and vegetables. Many of them are rich in Vitamins A and C, plus folate, iron, and other essential vitamins and minerals.

Aim for four or more servings of vegetables daily. They can act as a side dish or add color, taste, and texture to your favorite foods. You can add them to smoothies for a morning treat, mix them into main dishes by blending or chopping them, and sautée or crisp them to act as toppings for meats, grains or low-glycemic carbohydrates.

You should also have at least two to four servings of fruit per day. Be careful not to over-indulge, though, because even whole, natural fruit is high in sugar.

Pack in Plenty of Protein

Protein helps to build muscles, hair, skin, and bones. Focus on healthy, whole meats that have been trimmed of excess fat, poultry, fish (see caveats below), eggs, and organ meats such as liver. Non-animal sources of protein can include grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. Quinoa is a high-protein seed that can replace grains or animal protein.

Protein also helps to keep you full and to burn calories more efficiently, so don’t be afraid to get your two to four 1/4 to 1/2 lb servings per day.

Dairy … or Not

Dairy products are rich in calcium to help your baby build healthy bones and teeth. Doctors recommend about three cups of milk per day. However, many people cannot digest milk well. If that sounds like you, try fermented milk products, such as yogurt and kefir, which are easier to digest, or use a lactose-enzyme pill or lactose-free dairy products. You can also try alternate sources of calcium, such as canned sardines or salmon.

Low-Glycemic Carbohydrates

It’s more important than ever to avoid high-glycemic foods that can spike your blood sugar while pregnant, as this could lead to gestational diabetes — a serious condition. Look for whole grains in breads and pastas. You might also switch from white potatoes to sweet potatoes or yams — which have more fiber and vitamins and are digested more slowly, resulting in a gradual release of glucose.

Good Fats, Limited Sugar

Good-quality fats can fill you up and add nutrition to your meals. Think: olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds. Avoid trans fats and saturated fats.

Try to replace sugary foods with fresh fruit and other whole foods. Avoid beverages and treats made with high-fructose corn syrup, which causes blood-sugar spikes.

Drink Plenty of Water

The best beverage for you and your baby is plain or sparkling water or mineral water. Spice it up with a splash of fruit juice or a wedge of lemon, lime or ginger. Or have a cup of green tea. Avoid sugary drinks, diet sodas, and too much fruit juice. Aim for 8 to 10 glasses of fresh water per day.

Limit or Avoid…

Because your growing baby is extra sensitive, you should avoid:

• Alcohol

• Artificial sweeteners

• Shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish

• Raw fish (sushi)

• Raw oysters

And limit:

• Coffee

• Chocolate

• Black tea

• Soft cheeses such as blue cheese, feta, Brie, Liederkranz, Camembert, and queso blanco

Supplements

You obstetrician will prescribe you a prenatal vitamin that will ensure your baby gets key nutrients, such as folate, to prevent birth defects. Take it as prescribed, but don’t forget to eat healthy foods, too!

After Baby Arrives

After your baby is born, you can not only continue caring for it through optimum nutrition but by banking its stem-cell-rich umbilical cord lining for future medical use. Cord lining stem cells could not only help your baby, but other blood-related family members too.

When considering cord lining banking, make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Myth vs Fact: Clarifying Misconceptions About Cord Lining Banking

Treating and curing diseases with the stem cells harvested from the outer lining of umbilical cords is one of the most exciting medical developments in the last decade. However, stem cell technology is still relatively new, and there are a lot of misconceptions about this state-of-the-art technology.

If you’ve heard about the value of banking your baby’s umbilical cord lining, but aren’t quite sure if you want to do it, reading the following myth busters could help you make up your mind.

Myth #1: If I’m already banking my baby’s cord blood, I don’t need to save the cord.

If you already know about the value of cord blood for harvesting stem cells, you may be surprised to learn that the umbilical cord lining actually has a higher yield of stem cells than any other part of the human body. Only 330 cm2 of your baby’s mucus-producingumbilical cord lining membrane can yield 12 billion stem cells!

Cord lining stem cells can be triggered to develop into myriad other types of cells that make up body structures, such as:

• Skin

• Bone   

• Muscle        

• Organs        

• Cartilage      

• Nerves        

• Mucosal membranes

Myth #2: My baby might get hurt when the umbilical cord is harvested.

Your baby will never be harmed when harvesting the umbilical cord lining … in fact, one day he or she may be helped by it!

In every normal birth, whether vaginal or Ccaesarian, the baby’s umbilical cord is clamped and removed. This process remains the same whether you decide to bank your baby’s umbilical cord lining or not.

After the umbilical cord is removed, it is usually discarded as medical waste. However, if you decide to bank your baby’s cord, instead of being discarded, the umbilical cord — with its billions of stem cells — will be immediately processed and preserved for your baby’s and family’s future use.

Myth #3: Medical use of stem cells from babies is unethical.

Cord lining stem cells come from the umbilical cord after it has been removed as part of the normal birthing process.

The umbilical cord is usually discarded as medical waste. But when it is banked, the stem-cell-rich tissue becomes available to help your baby and other family members with health problems in the future.

When an umbilical cord is banked, the parents have agreed to bank it privately or donate it to a public bank. No baby is harmed but many people could be helped by the billions of stem cells found in just one umbilical cord!

Myth #4: Stem cells from my baby’s cord lining can only be used to treat my baby.

Stem cells from your baby’s cord lining may be used to treat many family members — including grandparents.

Cord lining stem cells have been found to be immunoprivileged. They contain the genesexpress HLA-E and HLA-G which help suppress the immune response from the graft recipient. This means that cord lining stem cells have the potential to be used by anybody, opening up stem cell therapies to many more than just the baby.

Myth #5: Cord lining stem cells can only be used to treat obscure and rare diseases.

Through GlobalCord’s parent corporation, CellResearch Corporation., research towards future stem cell therapies are currently being done on these common diseases

• Parkinson’s disease  

• Diabetes

• Corneal resurfacing   

• Hemophilia A  

• Heart disease

• Hearing and balance disorders      

• Neurological disorders

• Cosmeceuticals for anti-aging        

Myth #6: My baby’s immune system may reject cord lining stem cells if transplanted for medical reasons.

If your baby needs to use his or her cord lining stem cells at some point, they will not be rejected after transplantation. The cells are already a matched to her the body! Cord lining stem cells have also been proven to be immunoprivileged, which lowers the risk of rejection.

Myth #7: My baby and my family are healthy. We’ll never need those stem cells, so why bother banking them?

Think of cord lining banking as a kind of insurance. Just like health insurance, fire and flood insurance, and car insurance, you hope you’ll never need to use it. But when you do need it, you’ll be glad it’s there.

And remember, you’re not just banking the umbilical cord lining for your baby’s possible future use, but for all family members, including siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents … and yourself.

Myth #8: I have already banked my first baby’s cord lining. I don’t need to do it for my new baby.

While it is possible that all of your family members can be treated with the billions of stem cells found in one banked cord lining, autologous cells (cells that come from one’s own body) have the highest rate of successful transplantation.

Myth #9: When my family needs our banked cord lining, it’ll be too old to use.

Cord lining banking is a new technology and so there are no long-term studies on the viability of cells that have been frozen in liquid nitrogen for many years. Theoretically, though, there is no expiration date. Once thawed, the formerly frozen stem cells should be as good as new. Stem cells from cord blood that have been banked for more than 10 years have been successfully used as transplants.

Myth #10: All cord lining banks are the same.

All cord lining banks are NOT the same! Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord. If you are thinking of banking your baby’s umbilical cord, call or email us today for further details.

Diabetes: How Umbilical Cord Lining Stem Cells May Help

If someone in your family is one of the 422 million people worldwide who have diabetes, you are probably rightfully worried about his or her future because — at the moment — there is no cure.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces,

Managing the disease takes diligence and careful monitoring of dietary intake and blood-sugar levels, plus a lifetime of oral hypoglycaemic or insulin injection therapy to control glucose levels.

Over time, diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

• Adults with diabetes have a two- to three-fold increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
• Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy (nerve damage) in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers, infection and eventual need for limb amputation.
• Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness, and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. 2.6% of global blindness can be attributed to diabetes.
• Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure.

Umbilical Cord Lining Stem Cells could one day provide treatment strategies for this disease. Bank your child’s umbilical cord lining with GlobalCord and open up a future of regenerative therapies using this unique source of stem cells.

What Are Cord Lining Stem Cells?

Umbilical cord blood is rich with stem cells — the undifferentiated “blank” cells that can be prodded to morph into more specialized cells. But the amniotic membrane that forms the outer lining of the umbilical cord is an even richer source of stem cells. The umbilical cord lining, in fact, has the highest yield of stem cells of any tissue in the human body.

For instance, although bone marrow is a rich source of stem cells in adults, one bone marrow extraction can only yield approximately 2 million mesenchymal stem cells — the cells that can morph into solid organ cells such as muscle, bone, cartilage and nerve cells.

However, just 330 cm2 of your baby’s smooth, mucus-producing cord lining membrane can yield, in the first growth generation, 6 billion mesenchymal stem cells … plus another 6 billion epithelial stem cells. Scientists at CellResearch Corporation have successfully grown the cells for 30 generations, therefore the potential cell yield is much, much higher at 6,000,000,00030- a very large number indeed.

Epithelial cells can become skin cells, mucosal membrane cells, and cells of certain organs such as the liver and pancreatic islets. It is these pancreatic islet cells that secrete insulin which controls the blood sugar levels in the body. When circulating levels of sugar are high (e.g. after a meal), insulin stimulates the cells to absorb glucose, resulting in a fall in circulating blood sugar levels.

What’s So Special About Cord Lining Stem Cells?

It’s not just the numbers of stem cells available in the umbilical cord lining that make them so special and so bankable: It’s the quality of the stem cells themselves.

Because they are taken harmlessly and ethically from the umbilical cord afterbirth, they are, in effect, neonatal cells, and therefore young, vigorous, and robust.

How May Umbilical Cord Lining Stem Cells Help Diabetes?

At CellResearch Corporation, the parent company of GlobalCord, our research partners from the National University of Singapore and the National Cancer Centre Singapore have successfully differentiated cord lining epithelial stem cells into pancreatic islet cells that secrete insulin. The glucose receptors found on these cells- necessary for the feedback function that insulin provides- also appears to be higher than islet cells differentiated from other types of stem cells.

These new islet cells could potentially be transplanted into patients with diabetes to help produce insulin — once the feedback mechanism linked to insulin release is perfected. Interestingly, these stem cell derived islet cells also produce HLA-G and HLA-E, which have immunosuppressant functions to prevent rejection of transplanted umbilical cord lining epithelial cells.

Umbilical cord lining stem cells have shown great efficacy in indolent wound healing, and a USFDA Trial is underway to assess the efficacy of Umbilical Cord Lining Mesenchymal Cells on the Healing of Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcers.

Bank Now to Withdraw Later

If you arrange to preserve and store your baby’s umbilical cord at birth, it could be ready to produce the cells needed for diabetic therapies in future. Banking with GlobalCord is the safest choice. Umbilical cords licensed by GlobalCord are the only ones covered under the patent for Cord Lining Stem Cell therapeutic applications. Non GlobalCord licensed umbilical cords may be rejected as the tissue was not processed and preserved using our proprietary techniques for optimum extraction and preservation of stem cells.

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Contact GlobalCord today to find out how to store your baby’s cord, so that baby’s stem cells are ready when and if baby, your parents, or another family member needs them. You can also email us directly at info@cellresearchcorp.com.

How Your Baby Can Save Your Mother’s Life

One of the joys of becoming a parent is knowing that you’re giving the gift of grandchildren to your own parents. They get to have all the benefits of a baby without having to change (most of) the diapers or send Jr. into a time-out when he throws a tantrum because you won’t buy him an iPhone until he’s three. If you live nearby, you may even be lucky enough to have built-in babysitters. It’s clearly a win-win situation.

But of all the benefits of grandchildren — having someone new to love and cuddle, seeing your family’s history and traits passed down to a new generation, imparting your hard-earned wisdom and knowledge to young minds — there’s one that neither you nor your parents have probably yet considered:

Your children may one day save your parents’ lives.

How is this possible? It is possible when you bank your baby’s umbilical cord tissue with GlobalCord. There, the cells are kept frozen and ready for use when needed by your baby, your parents, or another close family member.

Stem Cell Banking Beats a Savings Account

Grandparents may buy Savings Bonds or open a Dedicated Savings Account to help your children fund their future, but another kind of banking is just as important to the long-term health and longevity of your family: stem cell banking. And there is no richer source of human stem cells than the umbilical cord tissue of your newborn baby.

What Are Stem Cells and How Can They Help You?

Stem cells are undifferentiated basic cells that can morph into many different kinds of specialized cells. Just as your newborn baby may one day “morph” into a doctor, lawyer, artist, or entrepreneur, stem cells can “grow up” to be blood cells, bone cells, cartilage cells, and more.

The types of stem cells found in the umbilical cord lining membrane — the outermost layer of the umbilical cord — include both mesenchymal and epithelial stem/progenitor cells.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells obtained from cord saving can be morphed into:

Cartilage Cells: If your mom (or dad) has rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis or another disease or syndrome that results in the destruction of joints, mesenchymal cells that have been morphed into cartilage cells may be able to repair the damage.

Bone Cells: Bone cells can be used to repair broken bones, replenish bone tissue lost to age and/or conditions such as osteoporosis, and provide relief for osteoarthritis.

Nerve Cells: New nerve cells can be used to grow or repair nerves that were damaged by trauma or aging. They are even able to produce essential neural chemicals that may be missing as a result of certain disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease.

Fat Cells: These can be used to reconstruct and repair the body after surgery by filling in dents or rounding out roughened contours.

Epithelial Stem Cells

Epithelial stem cells can be morphed into:

Skin Cells: Thanks to epithelial stem cells, skin grafting may become a thing of the past. At CellResearchCorp, the parent company of GlobalCord we have used epithelial stem cells to create a 3-dimensional, organotypic skin equivalent. This can be used to replace skin lost to burns, wounds or other traumas or disease.

Liver Cells: Epithelial stem cells can be prodded into becoming liver cells so that we can develop drugs that will treat liver disorders. Liver cells that develop from stem cells may one day even replace damaged liver tissue.

Pancreatic Islet Cells: Pancreatic islet cells that are morphed from epithelial stem cells can be used to produce insulin to control diabetes mellitus.

There's More for Mom on the Horizon

CellResearchCorp is actively involved in research and development for novel uses of stem cells for therapeutic purposes to help your family stay strong and healthy. In addition to the programs listed above, other areas of R&D for therapeutic umbilical cord stem cells include:

• Corneal resurfacing     
• Haemophilia A     
• Heart disease     
• Hearing and balance disorders     
• Neurological disorders     
• Cosmeceuticals for anti-aging CALECIM®    

Future research includes looking into the ways in which stem cells may be used to help in the treatment or prevention of diseases such as cancer.

The Only Cord Bank Approved to Help Your Folks

To ensure that your baby’s cord will be ready to help your mom, dad, your baby or another family member, be sure to bank it with GlobalCord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Contact us today to find out how to store your baby’s cord tissue, so that her stem cells are ready when and if she, your parents, or another family member needs them. You can also email us directly at info@cellresearchcorp.com.

Storing Cord Blood? Don't Forget The Rest of the Cord!

You've just delivered a beautiful, healthy baby! You're sweating and tired, but you’re the happiest you've been in, well, at least nine months! The doctor lays the little squirmer on your tummy as the nurse wipes her clean. In between kisses and hugs and SnapChat photos, you notice the doc cutting the umbilical cord: Snip!

And then, from the corner of your eye, you see it: The cord is removed and placed in the medical waste tray.

Wait! What?! Did you forget to bank your baby's umbilical cord?!

It takes you a moment, but then you remember that you did at least register the baby's cord blood … just in case. And now you notice the cord isn't headed for the trash but is being put in a container to be sent to a laboratory, where it will be processed then frozen for possible future medical needs.

Cord Blood: The First Step

You stored your baby's cord blood because you know that it is chock full of healthy blood progenitor stem cells. These haematopoietic stem cells (HPCs) can become either myeloid cells (monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, erythrocytes, dendritic cells, and megakaryocytes or platelets) or lymphoid cells (T cells, B cells, and natural killer cells) — these are the cell types that make up blood.

While you hope you will never need to use the cord-blood stem cells, you feel secure in the knowledge that they're there, ready to help out should your child ever need them. The HPCs are ready to repopulate the body with blood cells after treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation for conditions such as leukemia and lymphoma.

OK. Phew. You saved the blood. But what about the rest of the cord?

There's More Than Blood in The Cords

As it turns out, umbilical cord blood isn't the only source of stem cells that could help your baby (or a sibling, or another closely related family member).

The umbilical cord lining membrane — the outermost layer of the umbilical cord — is an extremely rich source of stem cells in the human body. These stem cells differentiate, not into blood, but into cells that make up solid tissue and organs. Called Mesenchymal and Epithelial stem cells, they were discovered by Professor Toan Thang Phan, Group Chief Scientist of CellResearch Corporation, the parent company of Global Cord.

What can these cells do? And how can storing them with GlobalCord help your baby?

A New Skin … and More

The epithelial stem cells in umbilical cord tissue have been differentiated into three extremely important cell types that can fight disease and promote healthy tissue:

• Epidermal Cells:  which have been used to generate 3-Dimensional Organotypic Skin equivalent. This can be used in lieu of skin grafting

• Liver Cells: which are being investigated as a drug discovery platform

• Pancreatic Islet Cells: which produce insulin, the hormone lacking in diabetes mellitus

Growing New Bones

The mesenchymal stem cells found in the cord lining are even more multi-faceted. Cord lining mesenchymal stem cells have been differentiated into four different types of cells:

• Fat cells (for surgical reconstruction, such as repairing contour defects)

• Cartilage cells (to repair and resurface joints in patients suffering from conditions such as osteoarthritis)

• Bone cells (to repair broken bones)

• Nerve cells (to grow or repair nerves, or to produce key neural chemicals that may be missing, such as dopamine in Parkinson's disease)

Wound Healing

Mesenchymal stem cells have also been found to effectively heal wounds — even chronic wounds that are indolent and refuse to heal. A USFDA trial will begin shortly using Cord Lining Mesenchymal Stem Cells to heal chronic diabetic wounds.

And There's More...

While we already have multiple uses for umbilical cord lining stem cells, our research continues. CellResearch Corporation is working with collaborators all around the world to develop new therapies using umbilical cord lining stem cells. Other therapies include:

• Corneal disease

• Hearing and balance issues

• Neurological issues

• Hemophilia (using gene therapy)

• Anti-Aging (with cosmeceuticals, CALECIM®

Reuse, Recycle, Rescue … The Right Way

You want what's best for your baby. Both today and in the future. That's why it's important to store your little one’s cord blood and umbilical cord lining in order to give baby all options should they ever be required.

Make an informed choice. Select a cord banking service that is licensed to offer complete coverage for all stem cell therapies derived from your stored cord.

Umbilical cord lining tissue banked by non-licensed cord blood banks may not provide the stem cell yield or quality that CellResearch Corporation’s proprietary and patented protocols can provide — this may affect its suitability for future therapeutic use. In addition, these blood banks and medical institutions that offer CellResearch Corporation's patented protocols — which include ALL cord lining stem cell therapies — are at risk of patent infringement.

GlobalCord is operated by CellResearch Corporation and its partners. Cords banked through GlobalCord are covered by CellResearch Corporation’s patent licensure which extends to 41 territories around the world, including the U.S.A.

Contact us now https://www.globalcordregistry.com/contact-us/ — before the cord is cut, so you and your baby can rest easy, knowing that her stem cells are ready when and if she ever needs them. You can also email us directly at info@cellresearchcorp.com.