Cord Blood Banking - Who to use?

beharrington

For those choosing to bank cord blood, has anyone decided who to use?  DH sent me a website that lists them all and I don't have a clue where to begin to narrow it down.  With pre-term labor a very strong likelihood, this is a decision that needs to be made sooner rather than later and I'd love some feedback.

Karen249

We used Cyro-cell with out first and are using them again for baby number 2. We did a ton of research the first time around on it and found them to be great. Good luck with whatever you decide. But def do it quickly. You want to make sure you have everything in place and ready early. I just sent in the paper work yesterday after we received our kit last week.

kskender

We picked Americord, they have several affordable programs for private banking and a comparison sheet on their website to compare them to the top 5 services nationally. Here is a link to the comparison sheet w/ 20 year storage costs: https://www.americordblood.com/pricing/comparison-chart/

satuttle1014

I'm going with Cord Blood Registry (CBR) my sister has used them for both her children as well. I registered with them on Tuesday and received my kit Thursday and I registered it and now it's all ready for the hospital.

jillnj

Also doing CBR and have been very pleased with the customer service thus far. Good luck!

nella2282

I used CBR. They were so helpful and came right away. You get tracking for everything. I gave birth on Friday and on Saturday they told me my blood is all ready at their facility.

beharrington

Thanks ladies.

ldowd21016

I just registered with cbr as well. My csection is 12 day away so they are overnighting the kit so I have it for sure. This will be my 3rd registry with them. Price for just the cordblood is on time payment of $1,350 and then $130 every year.

CanadianGamerMom

I'm not using a private company. I didn't with my daughter either. We're donating it to the public one. I don't know of the states has one... I've obviously not looked into that at all as I'm not American lol

DGH1126

We're using CBR again.  They have always been great.   This time we're going to bank the tissue as well.  Is anyone else storing tissue this round?

thisusername

CanadianGamerMom said:

I'm not using a private company. I didn't with my daughter either. We're donating it to the public one. I don't know of the states has one... I've obviously not looked into that at all as I'm not American lol

I'm donating to the public as well, in the states. I just told my hospital that I wanted to and they handle the rest. I'm not 100% sure who they go through, probably Red Cross..? I do know that I can get all that information and in some cases see who the cord blood helps too. We also have open access in we ever need t from someone just for donating. Pretty cool!

kitteh81

Has anyone considered delayed cord clamping instead? Especially with preterm births, the benefits have been demonstrated through scientific research. Here's an interesting blog post on the subject, written by a midwife.

https://midwifethinking.com/2011/02/10/cord-blood-collection-confessions-of-a-vampire-midwife/

thisusername

kitteh81 said:

Has anyone considered delayed cord clamping instead? Especially with preterm births, the benefits have been demonstrated through scientific research. Here's an interesting blog post on the subject, written by a midwife.

https://midwifethinking.com/2011/02/10/cord-blood-collection-confessions-of-a-vampire-midwife/

We looked into it! Given that she's really healthy we decided to donate instead, possibly help a baby who isn't as healthy

kitteh81

But it's not about having a healthy baby vs not having a healthy baby. The blood in the placenta BELONGS to the baby. You wouldn't allow anyone to come in the hospital room and take blood directly from the baby, so why does that change when they're taking it from the placenta? 

thisusername

kitteh81 said:

But it's not about having a healthy baby vs not having a healthy baby. The blood in the placenta BELONGS to the baby. You wouldn't allow anyone to come in the hospital room and take blood directly from the baby, so why does that change when they're taking it from the placenta? 

In my opinion, in our case, it will do more good for someone else. This is just what we ultimately went with. Like sure I could live on life support if needed, but I'd rather donate my organs ASAP and help someone else. I just feel that since we have been so blessed and I've read some stories on what that donated cord blood can do, I'd like to do it. My husband fully agrees.
ETA: if it didn't affect the baby and they were able to donate blood like her dad and I do/did I would do that too. I'm sure she will think it's cool when she grows up to have helped someone. We can't grow organs or blood on trees. This is just how I feel about it. Not saying there's anything wrong with either option. It's totally safe.

kitteh81

But it does affect the baby. The amountvtaken for cord blood banking amounts to almost a 3rd of baby's total blood volume, it's not the same as an adult donating blood.

Your baby isn't choosing between living on life support or donating organs to those in need. The blood taken for cord blood banking is important for the health of your baby, even healthy full-term babies benefit from receiving all of their own blood. Delayed cord clamping increases the hemoglobin and iron stores in infants up to 3 to 6 months after birth. Babies with earlier cord clamping are more than twice as likely to be iron deficient at 3 to 6 months of age. Iron is essential for brain growth.

"A couple of extra minutes attached to the umbilical cord at birth may translate into a small boost in neurodevelopment several years later, a study suggests."
"The extra blood at birth helps the baby to cope better with the transition from life in the womb, where everything is provided for them by the placenta and the mother, to the outside world," Rabe said. "Their lungs get more blood so that the exchange of oxygen into the blood can take place smoothly."

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/05/26/409697568/delayed-umbilical-cord-clamping-may-benefit-children-years-later

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23843134

thisusername

@kitteh81 we've read over multiple articles and between the two of us discussed it at length, I know they are different but we still want to donate. It's what we want to do. We aren't going to change our minds, it wasn't a rushed decision. DH and I just love what donating can do for others, the baby is still fine even if we donate, so that is our path.

kitteh81

Oh I'm definitely not trying to shame anyone for their choices on the matter, I just think it's unfortunate how much misinformation is out there on this subject, mostly disseminated by the cord blood banking companies themselves. And most parents don't know that the research contradicts the claims made by these companies. The World Health Organization actually recommends delayed clamping for all newborns (https://www.who.int/elena/titles/cord_clamping/en/) which surprised me when I first read about it. I don't think enough parents hear 5 he benefits of allowing their baby to receive all the placental blood, but everyone and their mother has heard the pitch given by the cord blood banking industry.

So, if you've read the research and are comfortable with your decision more power to you.

thisusername

kitteh81 said:

Oh I'm definitely not trying to shame anyone for their choices on the matter, I just think it's unfortunate how much misinformation is out there on this subject, mostly disseminated by the cord blood banking companies themselves. And most parents don't know that the research contradicts the claims made by these companies. The World Health Organization actually recommends delayed clamping for all newborns (https://www.who.int/elena/titles/cord_clamping/en/) which surprised me when I first read about it. I don't think enough parents hear 5 he benefits of allowing their baby to receive all the placental blood, but everyone and their mother has heard the pitch given by the cord blood banking industry.

So, if you've read the research and are comfortable with your decision more power to you.

We are the first in our family to donate, every one else has done delayed cord clamping, with the exception of my mom for my brother. Our whole family has given us the stink eye, but for some reason we just feel like it's the right thing is our case! The last time I had this feeling I wound up joining the military and then meeting my husband, so I hope this yields just as tremendous results! But yes, we definitely read up on all our options