Cord blood banking?

[mummytokeelie]

I posted this on another page but thought it might be more suited here,I know this is a long way off yet but has anyone thought about cord blood banking or ever done it? I have really been thinking about it with this pregnancy as with my daughter I was quite young and didn't know much about it, but I like the idea that from my baby's new life it could potentially save another child's life! Just wanted to know other people's opinions or experiences x

 

[Twinkie210]

I banked both of my sons' cord blood. I did it through a public bank (we have the choice of public or private in the US). I kind of figured that it was going to waste if I don't bank it, so why not bank it and maybe help someone in the future! It was really easy. I just called the bank and the sent me a form to fill out and mail back. Then everything was sent to the hospital. I didn't have to do anything else.

 

[Mommy2be7720]

Yup, I'm doing it! I have received my kit to take to the hospital when LO is born. I just think that although it's a little pricey ($2,100 is what I'm paying), the money is worth it should LO ever need it, or if I have other children that may ever need it. My sister did it with her child as well!

 

[Twinkie210]

Oh banking through a public bank was free. The blood is available to whoever needs it, the chance that my child could need it is so small that I would rather it be available to any sick child. If my child needs it in the future and it is still available, then the bank allows them to use it.

 

[mara16jade]

Oh banking through a public bank was free. The blood is available to whoever needs it, the chance that my child could need it is so small that I would rather it be available to any sick child. If my child needs it in the future and it is still available, then the bank allows them to use it.

Oh wow, that's great!

I don't know much about this topic - how do they collect the cord blood? Do they just take it from the umbilical cord after delivery?

 

[Twinkie210]

Oh banking through a public bank was free. The blood is available to whoever needs it, the chance that my child could need it is so small that I would rather it be available to any sick child. If my child needs it in the future and it is still available, then the bank allows them to use it.

Oh wow, that's great!

I don't know much about this topic - how do they collect the cord blood? Do they just take it from the umbilical cord after delivery?

Yes that is exactly what they do It all has to be prearranged before the birth and I dont' know if all areas do public banking. I get kind of upset that Dr.'s offices don't talk about banking more often. Mine gave me info on private banking (I am sure the private companies give Dr.'s perks for that) but not on public. I found info at a baby fair. Some samples aren't large enough to bank, but the place I use will use those for research, so good still comes out of banking!

 

[Mommy2be7720]

Well, with the public cord blood banking I am pretty sure that should another child need it, it would be donated to them for their use, so should the chance your child would need it, it would be used already. When it is done privately, it is stored for your child's use only and not given to anybody else. Should you decide that you no longer need it, they will donate it from there and make it available to the public.

I think the only "perk" that doctors may receive is whatever they charge for collecting the blood for you. When I arranged to do the cord blood banking, the company made it clear to contact my doctor and find out if they would charge me a fee to collect the blood. I did ask my doctor about the fee and they do no charge a penny. I was never told anything about cord blood banking from my doctor but I did ask her at my appointment as my due date is approaching and she never once mentioned a company I should go through. I simply just asked her if it was something she would do or not and what her opinion was. Her opinion was that when she had children they didn't offer cord blood banking and if she had another child, she would do it.

If you do choose to bank privately, once the blood is collected, it will be tested to make sure it is even useable should your child need it. If not, you DO NOT pay for it and it is donated for public research.

Obviously this sounds like a debatable subject but I do suggest you do your research. I'm not saying spend the money to bank privately, however, make sure with doing the public banking that the blood will actually be available should your child ever need it. I feel banking privately works for me as I would feel guilty should my LO ever need it and I didn't do it.

 

[Kellen]

We will be banking our LO's blood if it is viable. Our midwife does not charge a fee to collect the blood. We have our kit and will take it to the hospital with us. Once the blood has been draw and placed into the container all DH needs to do is call the 1-800 number and a courier will arrive to pick up the blood. Our insurance actually gives us a discount of $250 for doing this.

 

[patch2006uk]

It's becoming better known that the cord should be left to stop pulsating before its cut, so LO has all of the blood they're supposed to have. I wouldn't bank blood for that reason-I want to leave it so my baby gets what they're supposed to have.

Make sure you read up on cord blood, delayed cord clamping and everything before deciding what to do.

 

[xJessie91x]

I wish I could do this! The only place they do this in the UK is in London which is hours from where I live. So may consider delayed clamping so it goes to my baby and isnt wasted! x

 

[Bumpblessing4]

Bank it publically or not at all, if public banking is not an option. Private banking costs a lot and takes the blood out of circulation from those who really need it. I spent thousands banking the cord blood of my three children, because the ads of the companies who profit from it made me feel like it was necessary. Then guess what happened? My second child was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer (MDS with monosomy 7) which is always fatal without a stem cell transplant. I thought, "Well at least I saved her cord blood." WRONG! When your child actually needs cord blood, the doctors don't want anything to do with her own cord blood. It's tainted. If your other children are a match, they want their marrow (rather than their cord blood), because marrow engrafts more quickly. And if your other children are NOT matches, you can't use their marrow OR cord blood. I ended up destroying my sick daughter's cord blood. Every year when I pay to keep the cord blood of my other children in storage, I don't feel positive about it, and I won't be banking this new baby's cord blood privately.

Am I against cord blood banking? Private banking--yes. Public banking (which is free, if available)--no. Public banking saved my daughter's life! Neither of my other two children were matches, and NOT EVEN ONE match for her could be found on the 7.4 million member adult bone marrow registry. She would have died without donated cord blood. Cord blood doesn't have to be matched as closely as bone marrow does, so she was able to find three matches to choose from in the public cord blood bank. I'm so grateful that the mother of the newborn donor decided to donate her son's cord blood instead of banking it privately. I feel so duped by the private cord blood banks and so thankful for the public banks. My daughter's transplant doctor has actually gone on television to speak out against private banking. My daughter is three and a half years out from her cord blood transplant and is thriving now.

 

[Twinkie210]

Bank it publically or not at all, if public banking is not an option. Private banking costs a lot and takes the blood out of circulation from those who really need it. I spent thousands banking the cord blood of my three children, because the ads of the companies who profit from it made me feel like it was necessary. Then guess what happened? My second child was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer (MDS with monosomy 7) which is always fatal without a stem cell transplant. I thought, "Well at least I saved her cord blood." WRONG! When your child actually needs cord blood, the doctors don't want anything to do with her own cord blood. It's tainted. If your other children are a match, they want their marrow (rather than their cord blood), because marrow engrafts more quickly. And if your other children are NOT matches, you can't use their marrow OR cord blood. I ended up destroying my sick daughter's cord blood. Every year when I pay to keep the cord blood of my other children in storage, I don't feel positive about it, and I won't be banking this new baby's cord blood privately.

Am I against cord blood banking? Private banking--yes. Public banking (which is free, if available)--no. Public banking saved my daughter's life! Neither of my other two children were matches, and NOT EVEN ONE match for her could be found on the 7.4 million member adult bone marrow registry. She would have died without donated cord blood. Cord blood doesn't have to be matched as closely as bone marrow does, so she was able to find three matches to choose from in the public cord blood bank. I'm so grateful that the mother of the newborn donor decided to donate her son's cord blood instead of banking it privately. I feel so duped by the private cord blood banks and so thankful for the public banks. My daughter's transplant doctor has actually gone on television to speak out against private banking. My daughter is three and a half years out from her cord blood transplant and is thriving now.

Thanks for posting this! When I was researching my options I found out like you, that it was extremely unlikely that even if my son was sick, that his cord blood would do him any good. This is why I chose public.

The Dr.'s around here have never mentioned delayed cord clamping, and I had a c-section with my second son, so I don't even think delayed clamping would be a possibility.