Pregnant women's knowledge, attitudes and perceptions toward umbilical cord blood banking

Stem cell banking and donation hold great potential for the management of many diseases. The collection and banking of umbilical cord stem cells are essential for advancing and promoting stem cell-based therapy. At the heart of this promising field lies a crucial factor: the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of mothers toward stem cell donation and banking. Assessing how mothers perceive and engage with the concept of donating stem cells is pivotal in enhancing donation rates and ultimately saving lives. This study aims to assess expectant mothers' knowledge, attitudes and perceptions with respect to umbilical cord blood (UCB) donation and banking.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinics. The semistructured questionnaire includes sociodemographics data and information about mothers' knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about stem cell donation and banking. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient approach was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire.

The study enrolled a total of 508 pregnant women with a mean age of 29.88 ± 6.10 years. The total score of knowledge was 4.34±6.10, ranging from 0 to 20, and 81.9% of them had poor knowledge. There was a significant association between the educational levels of the participants and their knowledge scores. The total attitude score was 11.45±2.60, and 49.6% of them had positive attitudes. The total score of the participants' perceptions of cord blood banking was 8.13±9.84, and only 13.4% had high perceptions, while most of them (86.6%) had low perceptions. Mothers' knowledge was strongly positively correlated with their attitudes (r =.260, P =.0031) and perceptions (r =.249, P =.0047) about cord blood banking.

Most pregnant participants had poor knowledge, neutral attitudes and low perceptions about umbilical cord blood banking. Knowledge and attitudes are significantly correlated. Hence, implementing educational programs to increase knowledge and awareness of cord blood banking is crucial to empower mothers to share a pivotal role in the noble endeavor of saving lives through stem cell donation.