Acceptance of Cord Stem Cell Banking among Pregnant Women Attending Outpatient Department of Tertiary Care Hospital of Delhi

Abstract

Introduction: Cord blood banking, an alien concept till a few years ago, in India, is becoming popular nowadays. Cord blood banking is the practice of preserving, for future use, fetal blood that remains in the umbilical cord at the time of birth. Advancement in medical research has established the use of cord blood-based stem cells in the treatment of more than 70 diseases. It has a success rate of 99.6%. Objectives: The objective of the study is to access the awareness, determine the acceptance, and evaluate the practice of "cord stem cell banking" among pregnant women visiting the antenatal care clinic at Safdarjung Hospital. Methodology: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 400 pregnant females attending antenatal clinics in Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi. Through systemic random sampling, every third pregnant female attending the antenatal clinic was approached for the study. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants, which had questions related to the sociodemographic profile of the participant and questions on awareness, acceptance, and practice of cord stem cell banking. The collected information was analyzed using SPSS software version 21.0. Qualitative variables will be expressed in proportions and quantitative variables in mean (standard deviation)/median (interquartile range). A Chi-square test was applied. Results: 228 (57%) study participants were 20–23 years old. Although only 104 (26%) study participants were illiterate, 348 (87%) women remained unemployed. Women who participated in the study had atleast one living child. It is found from the study that only 80 (20%) women were aware of cord stem cell banking and social media was found to be the major source of information for all the participants. 50% of the total participants and 52.9% of those who wanted to know more about it were willing to do cord stem cell preservation in a future pregnancy. When coming to practice, none of the study participants had done cord stem cell banking in previous pregnancy, nor were they willing to do it in the current pregnancy. Among the participants who are not willing to do cord stem cell banking, 80 (40%) women found the procedure expensive, 60 (30%) women did not believe in the benefits of the procedure, and the remaining 60 (30%) women felt it as culturally unacceptable. It is to be noted that women are willing to do cord stem cell banking in a future pregnancy if their doctor recommends it (P = 0.000) and those women who are aware are also willing to do cord stem cell banking in a future pregnancy (P = 0.00). Conclusion: Awareness, acceptance, and practice of cord stem cell banking are not up to the mark. It is to be noted that social media serves as the only platform for the participants to know about cord stem cell transplants. However, if doctors educate and motivate their patients about it, a drastic change can be seen. It is also to be noted that educating mothers even during the postpartum is never going to be a waste as it can guide them in future pregnancies.