Cord blood banking

ACarullo

Have any of you ladies done it before? I'm wondering about it, any info you can give. which bank will be the best, personal experiences etc. My midwife said it would be good to look into since I have a family history in which the cord blood could help if something were to happen. 

Katemr1146

I looked into it a lot with our first, only to find out the hospital where I deliver doesn't even do it. So, if you're planning on delivering at a hospital, I'd start there. 

Beyond that, all I really remember from my research is that it would be better to donate it than bank it. I believe it was much more useful to other people than my own family because of how the science works. 

MrsDho11

H and I haven't had the conversation yet, but I lean toward donating it if we do anything with it.

ACarullo

Katemr1146 said:

I looked into it a lot with our first, only to find out the hospital where I deliver doesn't even do it. So, if you're planning on delivering at a hospital, I'd start there. 

Beyond that, all I really remember from my research is that it would be better to donate it than bank it. I believe it was much more useful to other people than my own family because of how the science works. 

So I can't just reply on my phone for some reason haha but I think I'd have to look at outside places that do it? Idk I looked it up and it's sooo expensive but the midwife said since my dad has leukemia it would be a good idea to bank it.. If we decide we can't afford it we will probably just do delayed cord clamping 

ACarullo

MrsDho11 said:

H and I haven't had the conversation yet, but I lean toward donating it if we do anything with it.

I think donating is a really awesome and generous option☺️ The husband and I hadn't even considering cord blood banking until the midwife told us that it would be a really smart thing to do since my dad has leukemia and it's recommended when there is an issue like that in an immediate family member.. It's just so expensive. 

angelz429

You can donate. What's nice is its stored for free. If no one uses it and you need it in the future, it will be there. If someone else needs it before you and they match, they'll use it and you'll just wait for the next match

comealongponds

DH and I were discussing this today, and were considering donating only to find out it's not actually very easy to donate in Canada. You have to give birth at one of four designated hospitals and you can't be having multiples for some reason so we're out on both fronts.

I'm going to talk to my OB about banking, but I'm not leaning strongly towards it, especially as I'd like to delay cord clamping in the event that the twins are preterm (which they likely will be by a bit at least). You can still bank after delayed clamping apparently, but I'm not sure it would be worth it after delaying.

Meether

Cord blood isn't very helpful for the average person. However, you mentioned you have a specific situation. So I would advise you to look into donating and private storage. I donated ours in NYC with my first two, and they told us we would have preference for cord blood if we ever needed it. I can't remember if it's ours we would have access to. My sister used viacord for her first child, but didn't store any for the second. 

AlexLindzz

Our hospital had a donation program, so I decided to donate and will do so again. And like PP said, donating is free and we can use it if need be. Plus, it gives me a good feeling to donate it and possibly benefit someone instead of just tossing it.

KilgraveMadeMeDoIt

I looked into donating butane ComeAlongPonds mentioned, it's hard to do here in Canada. I would have to deliver at a hospital nearly an hour away to do it and with my health issues I'm most likely not a candidate. I actually would be willing to try to schedule my C/S at the hospital in the other city if I could donate but it's a pretty sure thing I can't. It's too bad because my kids are mixed race and it's harder to find a match for people of mixed heritage because there are so few donors. I'll be delivering at a major research university's medical centre so I'm actually putting my feelers out to try to find a researcher that might be able to get use out of it.

Just because of how hard it can be to find a donor for people like my kids, I have considered banking privately in the off chance we need it but it's really expensive. Around a thousand just to get things set up, and it's highly unlikely we'd actually need to use it.