A Study to Assess the Knowledge and Attitude of Prospective Parents Regarding Cord Blood Banking in Selected Areas of Vadodara

Background: The concept of Umbilical Cord blood (UCB) stem cells is emerging as a non-invasive, efficacious alternative source of hematopoietic stem cells to treat a variety of blood and bone marrow diseases, blood cancers, metabolic disorders and immune deficiencies. Aim: To assess the level of knowledge and attitude about cord blood banking among prospective parents. Material & Methods: The descriptive research design was adopted and 100 samples were recruited by nonprobability convenient sampling technique among prospective parents. The data was collected by a structured knowledge questionnaire and attitude scale. The collected data optimized and analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The study revealed that majority of the subjects 78 (78%) had inadequate knowledge and subjects 22(22%) had moderate knowledge on cord blood banking with mean score of 6.3 and standard deviation of 2.57. With regards to overall attitude, majority of the subjects 95 (95%) neutral attitude and 5 (5 %) had a favourable attitude towards cord blood banking with mean score of 66.04 and standard deviation of 5.16. Conclusion: The present study concluded that nearly one fourth of the participants had moderate knowledge and majority of them had neutral attitude about cord blood banking. Therefore, the health care workers have to initiate a strict awareness program regarding cord blood banking among prospective parents.