Cord Blood Banking - Public or Private, options, etc

alifisherblake

Are you choosing to privately bank or publicly donate your child's cord blood and/or tissue/lining?  If so, what company are you using?  Also if you are privately banking, are you planning on pre-paying for years of storage to get a discount, or pay storage fee annually?

 Very back and forth on this issue and want to make the best decision possible.  Realize it can be a gamble on whether the cord blood is healthy enough or can even be used for my child and/or immediate family in the future.  My husband and I are both registered bone marrow donors, and avidly support Leukemia and Lymphoma Society efforts so we will likely be going with private or public, just want others opinions.  Currently 35 weeks and 5 days, so time is running out!

Thanks in advance and congrats to all mamas in this form - we are SO close to due date! 

WildRumpus

We're delaying clamping, so non-issue for us, but before we decided to dcc, I looked into donating to our local cord blood bank. There's no way we could afford to pay for private banking.

shootthemoon

Aggravatingly, public banking is not available at the hospital where we're delivering and we're unwilling to switch docs/hospitals at this late date to give us that option. I would encourage anyone who can't afford private, isn't interested in private, or hadn't thought about it at all to PLEASE look into donating. A donor saved my SIL's life so we are very passionate about this in our family.

MissyCee

Originally DH and I thought about privately banking it but after a lot of research we realized it would be an expense we didn't feel was necessary. This is our first and we have no family history of diseases that could be helped through cord blood. Also the chance that the baby can use their own blood is pretty much nil. That basically decided it for us.

We then decided we'd like to donate it, but unfortunately our hospital doesn't participate in donation, I think due to the location.

If we could donate we would without a doubt. However it's an incredibly personal choice and what's right for one family may not be right for another. Good luck with your decision!

Rachey1082

We banked DS1's cord blood privately. We did delayed cord clamping with DS2 and are again this time.

DS1's cord blood is banked with viacord. We, so far, have had a good experience with them. Before he was born they sent a kit for us to take to the hospital. The doctor filled the kit with the cord blood. It was immidately sent to viacord. They called me right away to say it was received. I get letters saying what new research has been done with cord blood.

boymamaco

We are using Viacord for both cord blood and tissue banking. I realize its expensive but my cousin's son needed and was able to benefit from his OWN cord blood. The results yielded by the stem cell therapy were amazing and set him light years ahead of where he would have been without it. Hopefully we wont need it but based on personal experience I feel like I need the option.

Creedon778

I just filled out the paperwork this weekend for public banking (donation).  However, given that DH had thyroid cancer I don't think it can ever be used for anything other than research.

alifisherblake

Rachey1082 - what made you decide to bank with your first son and not your second?  I realize this is a highly personal question but I am struggling with this decision so your insight means a lot to me.

Obviously the procedure and storage is expensive, even if the cost can be justified.  Also I read on StemCyte's FAQ that it is possible to delay cord clamping and still collect 10 cc's of cord blood for banking (minimum needed).

Thank you for sharing your experience with ViaCord!  Thanks as well to the other mothers who have contributed to this thread, it is helping me weigh the pros and cons more thoroughly before pressing send on the online registration form. 

lkobriant

I did a lot of research on this as well and my suggestion is donation.  Banking is extremely expensive and there's no guarantee that the cord blood your LO would need (God forbid they need it) would be their own.  Depending on the illness/complication, they may require someone else's cord blood anyway, as theirs could develop the same problem.  Just my two cents

floridababy3

The site 'Lucys list' has a great pros and cons article about cord blood and all the options. She brought up a lot of points that I hadn't realized. We have since decided to delay cord clamping and the recent publication of the Cochran review about the matter helped solidify our decision.

Andrea621

After lots of research about cord blood banking, DH and I decided to donate publicly.  There is a ton of marketing out there from the private banks about private storage; however, if you read statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics, they do not recommend private banking unless there is a history of genetic disease in your family.  Here is a quote from the March of Dimes website:

"It is very unlikely that a baby will need a transplant of his own cord-blood stem cells (the chances are estimated at about 1 in 2,700) (2). If a child does require a stem-cell transplant, his own stem cells usually are not the safest or most effective source of stem cells for treatment, especially in cases of childhood cancers or inherited (genetic) disorders. For these reasons, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) considers unwise the private storage of cord blood as biological insurance by families who do not have a history of the disorders mentioned above." https://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/umbilical-cord-blood.aspx

If you are interested in public donation, this is the website where I found a public bank: https://bethematch.org/Home.aspx  (Click "Get Involved" --> "Donate Cord Blood")

 The bank I chose needed to have our paperwork by the end of the 34th week, so do your best to get the ball rolling soon.  Good luck to you!! 

lindsayanne14

We are donating...our hospital has a donation program.  I still need to register so that they have the kit available when I'm ready to deliver, this thread reminded me to get on it!

LEMSA

Most places won't accept you after 32 weeks. I think you are too late.

We did public banking. There's more of a chance of the blood being used for someone that way. Me and hubs have no blood disorders or cancers in the family.

We are using lifeforce cryo banks. However you must be less than 32 weeks.

AlexKate45

We are privately banking.  We did the same for DS1.  I know the chances of us having to use it are slim.  But I guess you can never be certain of what happens in life. 

Colgate1

Our doctor told us it's a complete waste of money.  She said that since many/most of the diseases you would want to use cord blood for are carried genetically, the cord blood wouldn't really be very helpful.  In addition, if you donate to the public cord blood database, I think you can use cord blood from it if you need it later on.  Something along those lines.  

 

Also, side note to the poster who said they are delaying clamping so they can't do cord blood banking.  Is that true?  If you delay clamping you're not able to donate any cord blood at all?  

LEMSA

Colgate1:

Our doctor told us it's a complete waste of money. nbsp;She said that since many/most of the diseases you would want to use cord blood for are carried genetically, the cord blood wouldn't really be very helpful. nbsp;In addition, if you donate to the public cord blood database, I think you can use cord blood from it if you need it later on. nbsp;Something along those lines. nbsp;nbsp;Also, side note to the poster who said they are delaying clamping so they can't do cord blood banking. nbsp;Is that true? nbsp;If you delay clamping you're not able to donate any cord blood at all? nbsp;

I've heard that you can delay clamping for a few mins, milk the placenta, and collect enough blood. But that's kinda up to the OB I suppose. I've read that it can work tho.