Hello ladies!!
So I had my first doctors appointment and was overwhelmed by the testing options and paperwork. (First time Mom alert!!) The one that I was completely confused on was Cord Blood Banking. Does anyone know much about this that could explain in laments terms?
Is anyone going to do this or done it previously?
Thank you and congrats to ALL!! xoxo
Re: Cord Blood Banking??
I have done it with both of my previous children. Basically, cord blood can be used
in stem cell transplants for some blood cancer patients. (One of my sisters actually died from a blood cancer months before my DS was born, so cord blood donation is very important to me personally.) Stem cell transplants can save the lives of blood cancer patients in some cases. If you donate cord blood it's in a donor bank so that whenever someone requires a transplant, the bank can be searched for a potential match. It can be a great option for people who do not have a match within their family or a match in the adult donor system. The hope is that the stem cells will allow healthy bone marrow to grow in the patient and help either cure the cancer or put the patient in remission. hope this helps!
But. Isn't cord blood banking expensive?
Banking it is expensive, but means it's at your disposal, should your child develop some sort of blood cancer or something in the future.
Donating it is free and means someone else who may need it could potentially find a match. We chose to donate. We figured the chances of DS needing it were slim, but if we could potentially help someone else, that's pretty cool. In theory, if everyone donated, there would be a better chance of anyone finding a match if they needed it.
BFP #2 8/22/12 | EDD 5/5/13 | DS1 born 5/9/13
BFP #3 4/25/15 | EDD 1/7/16 | MMC 7/2/15 @ 13w1d | D&E 7/8/15
BFP #4 12/9/15 | EDD 8/22/16 | DS2 born 5/18/16 at 26w2d
Just keep swimming.
We are thinking of getting to it in the next week. Although I feel like it's not very useful and the chances of ever using it are slim, im too scared to not do it either .. So I guess we are going for it !
From my perspective, if you deliver at a hospital that does cord blood donation, that is a nice option. However, delayed cord clamping has been proven to be good for babies' health...so that might be the way to go....
Edit: pricing
DS was a preemie and this baby will likely be born before 40 weeks as well. I donate blood regularly and am on the national bone marrow registry so I'm all for helping others but I need to put my baby first.