cord blood banking

LaurenAmy

Are you planning on doing it?  Why or why not?

pennyandandy

I really need to research that. I haven't looked into it yet. Would love some more info, if anyone has some.

Sweetest116

Yes, absolutely we are.  If something horrible happens down the road that the cord blood could have helped prevent I would never be able to live with myself for passing up the opportunity.  I hope we never use it and it's a complete waste of money... but it's money I'm willing to waste.

mudpuddlestomper

I know ZERO about it.

goldenleaves

It's money we don't have to waste, but we will be donating it!

cheese.fiend

We will not be banking the cord blood.  In many cases of childhood cancers and immune deficiencies, a child would not be treated with stem cells from it's own cord.  Those stem cells are likely to carry the disease genetically -- therefore the banked cord blood would just be reintroducing the disease into the child. Obviously this is not the case with ALL potential scenarios that could arise, but I think these blood banks really attempt to capitalize on fear and guilt in new parents and make cord blood sound like the ultimate solution for any sickness that could befall your child... and that's just not the case.  

 We plan on donating our cord blood to a public bank.  

JessieJH

We plan on letting the cord pulse until it's done so that the baby gets all the blood, so there shouldn't be blood for banking. If we can't do that for some reason then we'll donate it.

mjkern

JessieJH:

We plan on letting the cord pulse until it's done so that the baby gets all the blood, so there shouldn't be blood for banking. If we can't do that for some reason then we'll donate it.

Not all cord blood require you to cut the cord before it finishes pulsing.  We are going to find one that will allow the baby to get the blood then they do the stuff for the banking kit. 

We plan to bank it.  Like another posters says I hope it's a waste of money, but my df has issues that doctors all just scratch their heads about so I want to give this baby every chance I can! 

 

Angiee930

We decided to do it, it is a great investment for our family and future. 

Shawnee11507

cheese.fiend:

We will not be banking the cord blood.  In many cases of childhood cancers and immune deficiencies, a child would not be treated with stem cells from it's own cord.  Those stem cells are likely to carry the disease genetically -- therefore the banked cord blood would just be reintroducing the disease into the child. Obviously this is not the case with ALL potential scenarios that could arise, but I think these blood banks really attempt to capitalize on fear and guilt in new parents and make cord blood sound like the ultimate solution for any sickness that could befall your child... and that's just not the case.  

 We plan on donating our cord blood to a public bank.  

This and banking it is too expensive for us.

soralette

JessieJH:

We plan on letting the cord pulse until it's done so that the baby gets all the blood, so there shouldn't be blood for banking. If we can't do that for some reason then we'll donate it.

This. We're pretty low-risk, so I'd rather the baby keep his/her blood!

jf198400

It's extremely expensive and like pp's said there's no guarantee your child would be saved by it if they did get sick.  So no we did not do it with DD1 and will not do it this time either.

RNmommyof2

We're planning on it.  I had leukemia as a teenager and while I never needed any kind of transplant, I still think it couldn't hurt to have some stem cells handy for either of our girls. Plus, my mom has ALS and I truly believe that a treatment, if not cure, lies in stem cells. I know it's highly unlikely, but how darn cool would it be if keeping this baby's cord blood can help my mom some day?

neya28

We did it with DS and are doing it again for this one. Like pp said...I hope it's never needed but I'd never forgive myself it's needed and we don't have it. SIL's first DS died of leukemia at 4 yrs old. They tried everything. If cord blood was available then...who knows if things would have been different.

zealion79

Does anyone have a ballpark on costs involved?

RNmommyof2

Around $2000 for the collection and first year's storage.

pinkshades05

We honestly can't afford it, so we won't be doing cord blood banking. However, we may possibly donate it for someone else.

CassiEric

Shawnee11507:

cheese.fiend:

We will not be banking the cord blood.  In many cases of childhood cancers and immune deficiencies, a child would not be treated with stem cells from it's own cord.  Those stem cells are likely to carry the disease genetically -- therefore the banked cord blood would just be reintroducing the disease into the child. Obviously this is not the case with ALL potential scenarios that could arise, but I think these blood banks really attempt to capitalize on fear and guilt in new parents and make cord blood sound like the ultimate solution for any sickness that could befall your child... and that's just not the case.  

 We plan on donating our cord blood to a public bank.  

This and banking it is too expensive for us.

All of this. 

Jen0204

A nurse at the hospital that I'll be delivering at told me that she thinks that some cord blood companies are down to about $1000 for collection.  I know that ViaCord has a $2500 collection fee plus storage fees of I believe $125/year.  They also do have payment plan options, so I'm guessing that the other companies do as well. 

It is very expensive, but I look at it as an insurance policy.  Just like insurance companies only cover certain situations, this will only work for certain illnesses. Personally I don't think it's fair to say that the companies capitalize on guilt and fear.  We pay all of the time for things that we hope we won't need - medical, life, car, and home insurance, pre-nups, etc.  This is just another one of those things, and like a pre-nup, it's a personal decision for every couple.

We're doing this for both babies because I work for the company who owns ViaCord and get the collection fee waived.  If that were not the case, then I wouldn't be doing it because it would be too cost prohibitive.