Awareness, Attitude and Practice Towards Umbilical Cord Blood Banking among Pregnant Women in Tertiary Care Hospital, Hyderabad

Background: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is the blood remaining in the placenta and umbilical cord after birth. It contains a high concentration of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and was once discarded as medical waste. Despite its therapeutic potential, awareness and practice of UCB banking remain limited in India. Understanding current awareness, attitude, and practice is essential to improve utilization. Objectives: 1. To assess the level of awareness, attitude and practice towards UCB banking among pregnant women in a tertiary care hospital, Hyderabad. 2. To assess the association between socio-demographic factors and awareness, attitude, and practice of umbilical cord blood (UCB) banking. Materials and Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 270 pregnant women attending antenatal OPD at a tertiary hospital in Hyderabad, Telangana. The sample size was calculated assuming an awareness level of 28, 20 allowable error and 5 non-response rate. Simple random sampling was used. A predesigned, structured questionnaire is used for data collection. Data were analysed using SPSS v20; chi-square test was applied with pResults: Among 270 participants, 30 (11.1) had minimal awareness, 2 (0.8) had high awareness, and 238 (88.1) had no awareness. Religion, education, occupation, socio-economic status, and parity were significantly associated with awareness. Regarding attitude, 175(64.8) of participants were negative and 95(35.2) positive. Conclusion: UCB banking awareness was poor, though one-third has positive attitude. Strengthening antenatal education is essential for informed decision-making.