Women giving birth are now faced with a new decision: whether or not to preserve the baby's umbilical cord blood.

Until now, the umbilical cord has routinely been discarded after childbirth. However, with new advances in stem cell research, blood from the umbilical cord can be extracted with a syringe and frozen.

If the child, a sibling or other matched recipient develops a life-threatening disease that affects blood production or requires a bone marrow transplant, the umbilical cord blood is believed to be a safe match without the need to wait for an appropriate donor.

This does not come without a price tag, however, as cord blood banks charge for the procedure as well as an annual storage fee.

Considering the odds are slim that a family would ever need their child's umbilical cord blood, most families are not willing to bear the expense. Yet, for the limited number of families who have used the blood to treat a child with a condition that developed in later years, the efforts were priceless.

Expectant parents considering saving umbilical cord blood are advised to research storage options to make sure the cord blood bank is reputable and financially stable. Although not for everybody, this is a new option to be aware of in this rapidly changing world of medical technology.