Natural Birth

Delayed cord clamping and saving cord blood?

Can you have delayed cord clamping and save the blood from the umbilical cord to store in a cord bank?  This may be a dumb question.  I would imagine you can, but I just wanted to check.  :)
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Re: Delayed cord clamping and saving cord blood?

  • My understanding is that no, you can't typically do both. 

    Some people say that you can go ahead and let the cord finish pulsing without clamping the cord prematurely, and then later "milk" the placenta and get enough blood out to donate, but from what I've read it sounds like having enough blood remaining to bank is the exception rather than the rule.  Personally, I'd rather let my baby have all of his or her blood without cutting it off early, as the benefits are immediate and long-lasting, rather than go for potential future benefits of banked blood, to the more likely potential detriment of my baby.

    There was a post about this not long ago here, and I posted some links in my reply:

    https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/64712323.aspx

     

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  • We chose to delay cord clamping. Cord blood banking is, IMO, a scam.
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  • I agree with both previous posters.
  • There is a lot of info here: https://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/cordIssues.html#Clamp

    In short, it is possible, although it reduces the chances that you'll get enough cord blood for banking/donation.

    I keep meaning to look into this more. I have no interest in banking the cord blood, but I would like to donate it, if possible. In that case, I'd go in with the attitude of I'm going to clamp when it makes sense to clamp, and if that happens when there's still enough blood left for donation, great. If not, oh well.

    Mommy to DD1 (June 2007), DS (January 2010), DD2 (July 2012), and The Next One (EDD 3/31/2015)

  • Flyer, you could try paging Snoangel on the April 2012 board for more info on donation. That was/is her job, and she's a great resource on my BMB.  She has twin newborns though, so she may not respond right away.
    Belly Dweller: EDD 04/22/2014
    Big Boy: Born 05/2012
  • imagetokenhoser:
    We chose to delay cord clamping. Cord blood banking is, IMO, a scam.

    This is what I think also.  


    Lilypie - (ZESJ)Lilypie - (QAi1)

  • Donation is a lovely idea, though. I do think that the baby needs the blood first. No one needs to be an altruistic blood donor in their first minute of life. If there's enough to do both, then that's great.
  • imagetokenhoser:
    Donation is a lovely idea, though. I do think that the baby needs the blood first. No one needs to be an altruistic blood donor in their first minute of life. If there's enough to do both, then that's great.

    Very well said.  

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  • If you want your $$ for private banking to be worth it, don't delay cord blood banking.  After doing more research, I opted to not pay for private banking.  Currently, the only diseases that can be cured with cord blood, can also be cured with bone marrow transplants.  And, if your child happens to have that disorder, you can't use her own cord blood to treat her.  As for using it with siblings, there's only a 25% chance of a match, just like with bone marrow transplants between siblings.  Another issue is having enough hematopoetic stem cells in the cord blood to make it usable.  This isn't a guarantee.  My only option for public donation is through MD Anderson because my regional bank refuses to work with any hospitals other than the university hospital and MD anderson won't make a decision if I'm approved to donate until I'm 36 wks.  That seems stupid, IMO, but oh well.  If I'm denied, then I guess no cord blood banking but I'm not sure I would do delayed clamping either.  My medical training makes me hesitant to do so given the increased risks for post partum hemorrhage with delayed clamping, even if such risk is low.  Oh and the other benefit for public banking is that if there are not enough of those blood stem cells, often the blood can be used in stem cell research, which I personally find exciting...and may one day make cord blood banking more of a good reason to do it privately or publically.
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  • Wow!  Thanks for your responses! 

    I definitely agree that delayed cord clamping is more important than banking the blood.  If anything, I would donate it (it's not worth the money to bank it), but I guess that most likely won't even be an option, which is fine with me.

    Thanks again!

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  • If you are considering banking your baby?s cord blood, you have probably done some research and found out that cord blood isn?t the body?s only source of stem cells. It?s true, stem cells are also found in bone marrow and peripheral blood (peripheral blood is simply blood taken from the donor?s veins). So, why go to the expense of saving cord blood if you could get stem cells from these other sources anytime you need them? The reason is that not all stem cells are created equal. Cord blood is the best source of stem cells for three reasons:

    Better Quality

    Hematopoietic and pluripotent are the most valuable stem cells and are found in great abundance in the cord blood of newborns. Hematopoietic stem cells can become any of the blood cells and cellular blood components in our body, but cannot become not organs (like lungs, or nerve cells from the brain). Pluripotent stem cells can become any of the more than 220 cell types in the adult body, including organs.

    More Flexibility

    Stem cells from cord blood, unlike stem cells from bone marrow or peripheral blood sources, can be successfully used even when there is only a half-match. This means there is more opportunity for transplants between family members (like for a baby?s sibling or biological parents).

    Lower Risk

    One of the most common complications following certain stem cell therapies is graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). GVHD can range from mild to life threatening. GVHD is much less likely when cord blood stem cells are used than when stem cells are used from bone marrow or peripheral blood.

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