Cord Blood Banking

mrs&mrsk

Is Cord blood processing/storage worth it/ useful?   What does it actually help with (if needed) 

What agencies are good/bad?

California Cryobank keeps emailing us offering their services at discounted rates - about 1/3 of what my friends paid at the hospital. 

bfonz619

I am curious about this also.  We have it arranged with out donor to contact him if we needed bone marrow but, were thinking cord blood banking would also be a good idea.  We do plan to avoid cutting the cord until after it stops pulsing but, have been told blood can be collected from the placenta.

valeriegp

Based on my research, the chances of your offspring actually being able to use your cord blood are very low. This is why we were going to donate my cord blood, but we ended up not being able to because I delivered on a Saturday and the bank didn't staff the hospital on Saturdays. 

FYI (there's lots more where this came from. The topic has been covered a lot.)

https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303887804579501500366071342

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/165.full

https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/features/banking-your-babys-cord-blood

ball.and.chain

I posted on the other thread that I think private cord banking is a scam, but didn't want to hijack the thread so thought I'd go into more detail here.

I researched this while pregnant and concluded that it was not worth it.  The chances of your child being able to use the cord blood are "remote," to quote the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  They do not take an official position on private banking but recommend that doctors disclose that "there is no reliable estimate of a child's likelihood of actually using his or her own saved cord blood later. Some experts estimate this likelihood at 1 in 2,700, while others argue the rate is even lower. Physicians should also disclose to their patients that it is unknown how long cord blood can successfully be stored."  They also note that "stem cells from cord blood cannot currently be used to treat inborn errors of metabolism or other genetic diseases in the same individual from which they were collected because the cord blood would have the same genetic mutation." In addition, "Cord blood collected from a newborn that later develops childhood leukemia cannot be used to treat that leukemia for much the same reason."  For these reasons, a child is more likely to benefit from cord blood from another individual at a public bank.  I would have donated B's cord blood to a public bank, but the option was not available at our hospital.  My hospital did not forbid private banking but did not recommend it.  The American Academy of Peditatrics discourages private cord blood banking, as does the American Medical Association.

My take: it is extremely rare that anyone besides cord blood banks benefits from privately banking cord blood.  I believe the banks take advantage of a) parents' paranoia about their children getting sick and b) the fact that it is technically possible to use cord blood for treatment, while obscuring the fact that your child's cord blood is unlikely to benefit him or her.

mrs&mrsk

thanks everyone!