Saving cord blood?

lovethesun25 · December 2014

Are you planning to save cord blood? I have just begun to read about it and am curious about it.

musictchr25 · December 2014

I would love to be able to do this, but it is actually quite expensive.

Also, don't sign up for newsletters about it, and especially don't give any companies your phone number, because they will constantly call you about it.

babybean9 · December 2014

Same as above. I would love too, but it's too costly for us.

Bednarova · December 2014

I want to do delayed clamping, so there likely won't be anything left to save or donate. We didn't get to with DS bc he was in distress.

willowprincess · December 2014

No too expensive and we do delayed clamping anyway.

delujm0 · December 2014

The little I've read about it has lead me to believe that the person whose cord blood it is can't use it in the future. So if you bank it privately it would have to be used by another of your children, or by you or your partner.

I didn't know about public banking, I'm going to investigate if my hospital does that.

poppyc8 · December 2014

I didn't know there was on option to donate. We banked and saved DS cord blood but this time around I would love to donate it. I'll read more into it.

My friends 1 year olds life was saved by cord blood.

sammyca · December 2014

To all those who have or will donate to the public cord bank, I thank you. My beautiful 4 year old son is only with us today because of a cord blood donation (following loooong fight with leukemia).

mamahawk12 · December 2014

Donate, donate, donate!! Please do a lot of research before deciding to go with a cord blood storage company (and by research, I mean NOT on a company's website.) I was dead set on doing this with our kids, and I'm sooo glad I did the research before blowing the money. If your child ends up needing stem cells for one reason or another, you'll much more likely need them from an outside donor - so the more people who donate, the better!! But you need to get set up with a donation company pretty far in advance because they book up quickly, so sign up soon if you choose to go that route.

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Trampslikeus · December 2014

Very expensive, and typically unlikely to end up being used by your own kid. I figure if more people started donating, instead of banking, the odds are actually BETTER that if my/your child needed it, a match could be found.

@sammyca I talked about it with my OB, but its a whole different thing actually seeing your words. So happy your little one is doing well.

TeacherMama7 · December 2014

I will be doing this. It would be too expensive for us to save it on our own, but it's something my father-in-law wants to do for the family.

housewifebecomesher · December 2014

I think most hospitals require some paperwork in advance, because I asked about it once I got admitted and it was too late. So we plan to provide the info in advance this time.

DH has a blood disorder so that's the only reason we would consider private banking. I need to do some research to see if it would ever be used if he needed it. We plan to donate if possible if we don't bank!

KonaCoffeeBean · December 2014

sammyca said:

To all those who have or will donate to the public cord bank, I thank you. My beautiful 4 year old son is only with us today because of a cord blood donation (following loooong fight with leukemia).

That makes my mind up for me. If it's at all a possibility I'm going to donate.

AndasKnits · December 2014

sammyca said:
To all those who have or will donate to the public cord bank, I thank you. My beautiful 4 year old son is only with us today because of a cord blood donation (following loooong fight with leukemia).

Haven't decided yet, I know my sister did it with my nephew. Didn't know you could donate. Time to do more research.

virginiaunicorn11 · December 2014

https://bethematch.org/support-the-cause/donate-cord-blood/

Donating cord blood is free, and saves lives! My father is recovering from a bone marrow transplant now. My family would pay anything to increase his odds, so we spoke to his doctors about whether we should privately bank my baby's cord blood. His doctors said that because it goes into the public system, if it is a match for him (if he needs a "rescue"), then it will still be available to my father. So we are donating but not paying to privately bank. (Originally, I was supposed to be tested to be a donor, but then found out I was pregnant. Fortunately his brother was a close enough match.)

Thank you all, who are willing to do the research and/or donate. I have been lurking for a few months now, but this important issue compelled me to register and post.

https://bethematch.org/support-the-cause/donate-cord-blood/

mamahawk12 · December 2014

PenguinMG said:

Just googled and there are no hospitals in my state (OK) that accept cord blood donations. Super lame.

I'll have to dig up the info, but I donated privately last time as my hospital doesn't participate either. They send you a kit just like if you were going to be banking it, and they cover any associated costs. I'll try to see if I can find it...

erbear84 · December 2014

My hospital is on the public donation list. I had no idea this was available and now I'm so excited to sign up!

willowprincess · December 2014

Hmm, I need to look and see if our hospital allows us to donate.

jesscmv · December 2014

I am all for donating our LO cord blood and we definitely will because it is too expensive for us to save, but tell me why when I was researching this it says to get outside cord blood it can cost up to $35,000 when the majority of it is donated?! I understand that it cost money to store and everything but WOW that's a pretty penny! Just a random thought, maybe that is including all of the procedure and transfers too?

sammyca · December 2014

I just feel so happy this topic has come up on the board. Obviously it is such a passionate topic for our family. I mistakenly thought someone in our family would be a bone marrow match for George. Not the case - my daughter was most likely (1 in 4 chance) but was not a match. Hence the cord blood donation (nearly a perfect match!) from an anonymous hero mama and baby.

It is something you need to talk with your OB and/or midwives about well before the birth but easy to organize particularly if your hospital already participates. Just a form to fill out (similar to the one you do when you give blood) and a blood test.

jesscmv · December 2014

Yeah I see what you are saying with it being like an organ transplant, I didn't see it this way! That makes more sense now.

angielayne926 · December 2014

We donated publicly after DS's birth and will be doing it again.

vic8504 · December 2014

We donated DD's to the public bank and plan to do the same with this LO. Like others have said it is just too expensive to save it for ourselves so I donate in hope that others will do the same so if one of my children would ever need it, god forbid, there will be a match for them.

veggiemo · December 2014

I donated. All I had to do was sign some consent paperwork ahead of time and then they took some of my blood (from my arm) while I was being admitted during labor.

The way it worked at my hospital was if my own child ended up needing the cord blood one day, it could possibly be tracked down. That is, if by some chance it hadn't already been used.

OMGTree · December 2014

I would donate if it was an option. DD2's cord blood will be sent off to a lab for genetic testing to see if she has the same genetic condition DD1 and I have.

leenziepops · December 2014

Thanks for this post! I wasn't quite aware of this and just read a link PP provided. What a beautiful thing I could do with my LO for the greater good of the world.

Middlems5 · December 2014

I have banked privately with my first two girls. My son who passed I was able to bank his cb too. Now this time I will again I have a rare blood disorder and it was suggested to for my kids so incase they ever need this..... You need all the facts and figures and you need to do what's right for you and your family ❤️

lmfs90 · December 2014

We will be doing it privately. It will be very helpful for BF who has an illness. We've already talked to his Drs to see if it would be useful and it will be. :-) We are pulling out some random finaces for it though and will probably be asking for help from his parents but it's totally worth it.

Melindafuller34 · December 2014

I'm glad i read this thread I will be looking into public donation also at my hospital in my area!! We are very interested in saving the cord blood but it is expensive!! We registered to win a free cord blood banking but don't know the odds of that!! Have a great day ladies!!

lovethesun25 · December 2014

I loved reading all of your responses! We are definitely looking into how to donate. Thank you all for sharing your experiences!

mirandaroser · December 2014

It's expensive, and not 100% proven to be effective. Would love to contribute to research but don't have the finances.

kristaB1989 · December 2014

I was unaware that it could be donated! I'm glad I know this. I'm definitely going to look into it.

slr1229 · April 2015

Bumping this. Learned more about in class last night. Really disappointed my hospital isn't on the public donation list.

KaLikeAWind · April 2015

Nice bump. Really wanted to donate but there are NO hospitals that do it in my state and I believe we can't anyway because DH is adopted and thus his family history is a total mystery.

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