Hello, The umbilical cord is one of the richest sources of stem cells in the human body . these stem cells can be used to treat few medical condition in future. Umbilical cord stem cell banking is a service that involves collection of umbilical cord blood and tissue samples at the time of the baby’s birth, processing of the samples to extract stem cells and preserving the stem cells in laboratory conditions. The preserved stem cells can be retrieved any time for use in approved treatment of medical conditions. Well it is not mandatory, it's on parents choice to store there babies stem cells If they are affordable.