Placenta?? Cord blood banking??

knottie336c178c61195eb9

A few topics for immediately post partum - anyone looked into what to do with their placenta? Seems like a thing - people may take it home and eat it or donate it. Anyone have thoughts about banking the cord blood too??

fertile-turtle

I haven’t bothered to look into what to do with my placenta because I don’t really want it - there’s not enough evidence for benefits of encapsulation or other methods of eating it for me to want to bother with it, but it’s fine if you want to do that. I’m perfectly happy for it to be biohazard waste or to go to a study if there’s one going on (I’ll be delivering at a major research institution, so there’s a non-zero chance that someone wants placenta samples for some kind of research, and I’m already in a study on Covid in pregnancy), but I’m not terribly invested in it.

As for cord blood banking, there are 3 options: 1) private banking for your own child’s use later. When I looked into this, it seems less useful than they want you to believe: as far as treating your own child if they develop leukemia or something, using their own stem cells isn’t considered ideal because it’s their own stem cells that are malfunctioning in the first place. Plus it costs money to maintain them, which for something you’re unlikely to need and unlikely to be able to use if you do need them doesn’t seem worth it to me. 

2) donation for use for anyone who needs stem cell therapy. This is something we’re considering, but we haven’t talked to our providers yet about whether there’s a system for this at our hospital. There probably is, in which case this is a “maybe” for us, because it does prevent delayed cord clamping so we have to decide between the immediate personal benefits of delayed cord clamping and the potential greater good of donating. 

3) delayed cord clamping. This is becoming the standard of care, and has mostly benefits but a few risks. They wait 1-5 minutes (hospital/provider policy may vary) to cut the umbilical cord, allowing maximum transfer of blood back to the baby from the placenta. This can increase neonatal iron stores and decrease risk of anemia, which is a big deal since breastmilk doesn’t have much iron and they spend their first 6 months pretty dependent on whatever they were born with. In premature babies, it reduces the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, so it’s even better for at-risk babies. It also decreases the need for transfusions, but it does slightly increase the risk of jaundice. Jaundice is incredibly treatable, usually outpatient with phototherapy, so for most situations, delayed cord clamping is the preferred option for baby’s health. Unless your baby needs immediate intervention, this is probably the ideal choice, but you can discuss with your providers before you go in to give birth.

kbmt

Through my research, I found very similar information to what @fertile-turtle said.

I don’t plan to do anything with the placenta. Personally, I just have no interest in it.

I also read that you likely can’t use stem cells from a private cord bank for the same child that the stem cells came from. They can be used for siblings at times. Private banking can also be expensive.

I considered public banking where stem cells could be donated. However, after hearing a podcast about delayed cord clamping, we are choosing delayed clamping over public banking. Delayed clamping May provide an additional blood volume of up to 30% and improved iron levels.

itsjess627

We did banking for our first born. We still maintain it for now but are choosing this time for delayed cord clamping for our little guy based on research we’ve done, similar to the ladies above. We have the option to bank for him but think it’s best for him to get as much as the cord blood as possible. Unfortunately cord blood can only be utilized in certain circumstances as of now but that doesn’t mean it won’t be useful in the future. 

Regarding the placenta, I couldn’t find enough definite research about the benefits of encapsulation. I know some mommas who have really felt they benefited from encapsulation. 

ttc3y

I agree with everyone else above, I couldn’t find any research to support placenta encapsulation. As a Family Nurse Practitioner, I have taken care of women who did placental encapsulation. About a 1/3 of them saw improvement with their mood, 1/3 of them felt like it did nothing, and a 1/3 of them reported that it actually made them feel worse. I have opted not to do placenta encapsulation and see how things go. There are so many other factors that can affect Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorder. If anything else, I just want to see and assess my placenta because I’m a health nerd and curious. 

As for cord blood banking, unless you have a significant family history with a rare health disorder that could benefit from private cord banking, I don’t think it’s worth the expense. I have considered participating in the public cord banking. You can still participate with delayed cord clamping at 60 seconds and donate the rest to the public cord banking sector. Usually 60 seconds is enough for your child to receive the health benefits it needs and still be a Good Samaritan to help others if you wish. 

kb1322

It’s part of our birth plan to have delayed cord clamping and then donating to the public cord blood bank. Overall though, we are working with our OB to make sure it’s a flexible plan and that she keeps us informed of everything as it’s happening and gives us her professional opinion during the process ✨