Awareness and knowledge of cord blood collection among pregnant women ‎and doctors and effect on cord blood banking in Iran

Nowadays, using umbilical cord blood (UCB) as a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells has been an important issue for both researchers and physicians in many parts of the world. According to the benefits of using cord blood in curing disorders, awareness of parents about cord blood utility and cord blood banking is important. The aim of the study was to evaluate the knowledge and willingness of Iranian pregnant women and also the information level of doctors about cord blood banking.
This is a survey that conducted among at least 28 weeks 824 pregnant women and 152 Obstetric-Gynecologists (OB-GYNs) in private hospitals of 24 provinces of Iran to evaluate the knowledge using a questionnaire.
Our finding indicated that 38.7% of participants were aware of cord blood banking and less than 50% of doctors had complete information about cord blood usage. The mother’s attitude is related to their doctor’s recommendation. The results show that the level of education, employment status, and occupation, income has an impact on the parent’s attitude for cord blood banking.
The level of knowledge among the pregnant women about cord blood usage is low totally. Even the doctors had not complete awareness about cord blood banking. Hence the most of the women tend to get advice from their physician; we should try to introduce Royan cord blood bank and the advantages of cord blood stem cells via holding congresses and medical gathering.