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Homebirthers: Talk to me about Cord Blood Banking

kesryakesrya member
in Natural Birth

Starting to get bombarded with info and offers on this. Here are my questions:

1) Every thing I receive in the mail is about "talk to your Doctor about this" or "top choice of hospital OBGYNs".  Is it even possible to do cord blood banking if you are doing a homebirth?

2) Assuming it is ... price tag ouch!  I'm considering just donating it for the stem cells.  Are there companies that just accept donations, without charging you for it?  Would I kick myself if I donated to the world at large rather than storing it for me and my family's use?

3) If I decided to store it for my family, there seem to be so many companies to choose from - all claiming to be the top pick of OBGYNs and hospitals.  How does one even go about deciding which company to choose?

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Re: Homebirthers: Talk to me about Cord Blood Banking

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    MissyOlivePantsMissyOlivePants
    I wouldn't bank it unless I had a reason right then that I knew about to do so.  Instead, I think it's pretty beneficial to let the cord finish pulsing on it's own...
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    ~adamwife~~adamwife~ member
    My MWs don't cut the cord until it has stopped pulsing.  This usually means that all of the blood that would have been in the cord has actually went to the baby, so there isn't much to bank. 
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    trinnytrinny member

    image~adamwife~:
    My MWs don't cut the cord until it has stopped pulsing.  This usually means that all of the blood that would have been in the cord has actually went to the baby, so there isn't much to bank. 

    same

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    MrsTiaraMrsTiara
    imagetrinny:

    image~adamwife~:
    My MWs don't cut the cord until it has stopped pulsing.  This usually means that all of the blood that would have been in the cord has actually went to the baby, so there isn't much to bank. 

    same

    And ditto for me.  The cord blood is for my baby now.

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    diamondcksdiamondcks member

    We didn't have a home birth, but birthed at a free standing birth center, and I believe that it would have been treated the same.

    1) I think that they are just trying to convince you that your doc thinks it is a good idea, and since most births are doctor assisted, that is a good place for them to aim.  Our midwives had to fill out and sign a form, but it didn't seem to be a big deal.  They also had to take several vials of my blood for testing.

    2) I think most public banks work with large hospitals, so a donation might not be possible with a homebirth, but you can look into it.  We decided that although it was expensive it is like an insurance policy, we hope we never have to use it, but it is there if we need it.

    3) DH researched and researched I -think- that this is the website he found most useful https://www.parentsguidecordblood.org/

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    jtenebackjteneback member
    imageMissyOlivePants:
    I wouldn't bank it unless I had a reason right then that I knew about to do so.  Instead, I think it's pretty beneficial to let the cord finish pulsing on it's own...
    This!
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    pepomntpatpepomntpat member
    We are going to let the cord stop pulsing before cutting, so there won't be any to bank.
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    kesryakesrya member

    Thanks ladies -- this was so completely helpful b/c I had no idea how it actually worked.  My MW also lets the cord stop pulsating, and even if this wasn't her policy, it's what we would request anyways.  Knowing that it is not possible to bank if this is done makes my decision quite easy!!!

     

    I guess they don't include that information in the literature b/c, just like they assume most women will give birth in the hospital, they also assume most women won't know that they have the option of letting the cord stop pulsating.

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    Texas77againTexas77again member
    you can still donate/collect cord blood if you let the cord stop pulsing.  we did this all the time.  of course it is slightly more difficult and harder to guarantee that you will collect as much as you need, but it is totally possible.  delaying cord cutting does not mean that you cannot bank cord blood. 
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    flyer23flyer23 member

    imageTexas77again:
    you can still donate/collect cord blood if you let the cord stop pulsing.  we did this all the time.  of course it is slightly more difficult and harder to guarantee that you will collect as much as you need, but it is totally possible.  delaying cord cutting does not mean that you cannot bank cord blood. 

    This. You can actually collect cord blood for banking/donation after the placenta has been delivered! There is lots of information here: https://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/cordIssues.html#Clamp

    We decided against banking when we were still planning hospital birth. Just seems like a lot of money for very minimal benefit. So we wanted to do donation instead, because 1) it's free, 2) the blood has a much higher likelihood of being used (and could even potentially be used for our kids, if they needed it and it was still in the bank), and 3) I'm of mixed ethnic descent, so there is a particularly high need for cord blood from people like me. But then we switched to homebirth, and the place I was planning to donate through said that you could only donate if you delivered at a hospital. Bummer. So we ended up doing neither.

    A bit of an aside, but I was talking to a co-worker today who did cord blood donation. When it got used, the recipient allowed some information to be released to her, as the donor. Turns out it went to an 11-month-old infant with a brain disorder, and the cord blood was a complete cure. Like, the baby went from having only a 10-year life expectancy to completely totally 100% normal and healthy, all because of that cord blood. WOW, what a gift!

    Mommy to DD1 (June 2007), DS (January 2010), DD2 (July 2012), and The Next One (EDD 3/31/2015)

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    Nikki903Nikki903

    After thorough research, we decided not to bank the cord blood - the science isn't quite there yet and unfortunately the big pharma companies are really pushing this optionon people without it. 

     At this point there is very little that cord blood can actually do, and there is no evidence it will be even usable once un-thawed.  The freezing, unthawing process changes the cells, so the quality is deteriorated.

     

    Here are some links:

    https://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/03/12/consumer-cord-blood.html

    https://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2010/whos_minding_the_store/busted.html

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