Cord blood banking

Spunkykat7 · March 2014

Hello all. Just wondering if anyone is considering this and which one they will be using?

chickpea912 · March 2014

Nope. I feel like I saw something about this the other day - you might want to use the search function (the little magnifying glass next to the page number) and see if there was another thread - just in case people don't answer here.

elsa1688 · March 2014

I don't think it was a separate thread, just a question in the newbie thread. I am not banking but planning on donating to our local blood bank.

tbmadeamistake · March 2014

It is in the newbie thread, page 20. I'll cut and paste my response from there:

I did not do cord blood banking. I did research and basically, you'd be banking it for any other children you might have, not for this LO. If there is something wrong, it's in the cord blood and LO's own blood likely won't help at all. If there is a sibling who needs healthy blood, you are much more likely to match a sibling than a stranger. We chose not to because it's expensive and if we'd end up with donor blood for any issues anyway, well, eh. If we had the money, I'd probably have done it anyway for siblings and because if I would accept donor blood, I'd like to be able to also donate.

supgabs · March 2014

If you can't pay to bank it I recommend at least donating it. I was planning on donating ours until my cancer diagnosis. Cord blood stem cells may end up saving my life in the months/years ahead of me and I am so thankful that it is an option to me since I do not have any full-blooded siblings for a bone marrow transplant.

chickpea912 · March 2014

I knew I saw something about it somewhere, didn't think it was a separate thread, so thanks to those ladies who knew where to find the convo

I'm eternally bummed that my hospital doesn't participate in the cord blood donation system. Or at least it didn't four years ago - I should look into that.

tbmadeamistake · March 2014

Also, if you are banking cord blood, you cannot do delayed cord cutting. There are pros to both, so it's a choice you have to make. I prefer the delayed cord cutting.

ashquack · March 2014

I talked to my dr about this and she said that if we did the cord blood banking they still delayed the cord cutting so there was no longer a pulse in the cord. She had a patient that doing the banking saved her life (cancer) so I am strongly considering although the chances we would need it are so low... But still... Thanks OP I was interested in hearing what others thought!!!

mayjaybird · March 2014

My dad has Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, and we're going to see if the cells could be a match for him (it's less then a 25% chance, but fingers crossed). Unfortunately, there's no public bank in Alaska right now to donate to. Our OB and his oncologist also told us that if anything was to happen to our little girl the chances of her own cord blood stem cells helping her are very slim. It's a very personal decision though, so it's good you're doing your own research.

izzetoot · March 2014

My OB told me that because it is such a huge expense it is not really worth it unless you know something is wrong with the baby or there's a history of illnesses/disease within the immediate family. Also, if you do not bank this pregnancy you can bank any other pregnancy and use the same blood for not only all of your children but those in your immediate family as well. She has another patient that actually pooled together with her brothers and sisters and all pitched in to bank one cord that they could all share as a kind of 'security blanket'. Sounds weird, but I swear thats what she said!

allrightmeow · March 2014

We are really considering it because we both have the sickle cell trait. We are still researching. If bone marrow transplant from sibling to sibling is an option we probably won't do it.

Unknown · March 2014

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Spunkykat7 · March 2014

Thanks everyone for all the replies.

GoodStuff05 · March 2014

We donated after dd birth. I fOrget the company, but they sent us a kit at home with paperwork and at hospital check in we just let them know we were doing this (we had to bring kit with us upon check in). Then the hospital staff did all the rest in terms of adding in the cord, ad shipping it off. Very easy and we will do it again.