Cord Blood Banking- Thoughts?

bbyT · June 2016

So in my jonts on Pinterest while looking for baby room ideas, Blood Core banking would come up in my feed, never thought anything of it or knew exactly what it was. Then last week at my appointment my Dr. mentions it to me and hands me flyers. Has anyone put thought into this? And if so, who have you heard is the best one to go with? They all seem the same to me and all starts to become a blur as they all offer pretty much the same thing. For medical reasons I believe I will be doing this.... Just trying to not lose my mind in the research of each company. Any insight/experience on this would be greatly appreciated.

ballofmeat · June 2016

I don't have any experience with cord blood banking companies. I looked into it for us since we have some medical issues, not necessarily genetic. Our insurance does not cover it and it was just too expensive for our reasoning.

But just as a heads up, when you do select one, make sure to bring your kit to the hospital and be vigilant that the specimen is collected properly. The nursing staff will not remember if this is something you want done.

We have received many calls in the hospital lab from nursing staff over the years asking what to do with the kits or if we have more kits. The answer is the hospital has no responsibility for the banking and does not carry extra kits. It will be up to you to make sure it is all taken care of/followed through with.

I'm hoping in the coming years it becomes more of a common practice and covered at least partially by insurance.

bsckgb7 · June 2016

You want to do a search on the boards for this topic. I think we even had a thread a few weeks back.

ballofmeat · June 2016

bsckgb7 said:

You want to do a search on the boards for this topic. I think we even had a thread a few weeks back.

Ah yes we did, I forgot. Here is the link OP.

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12672403/cord-blood-registry

SkiChic626 · June 2016

After tons of research, we decided not to do it with DD, we opted to delay clamping instead. We didn't feel the limited scope of benefits for something that more than likely won't be used *knock on wood* was worth it. This time I'm having a planned C-Section, and we're going to try to donate the cord blood. There's currently only one bank accepting donations, so even that's a crap shoot. We also get a yearly bill for $1200 to keep our embryos frozen, so it was a choice between keeping our babes frozen or paying the fee for cord blood....embryos won

bbyT · June 2016

@bsckgb7 I did a search and looks like i missed this. Or wasn't writing in the "correct words"... and @midwestbabythank you for pointing me in the right direction.

PJpeppercorn · June 2016

After much research and talking to friends in the medical field we decided to donate. This article helped a lot too. https://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/banking-your-babys-cord-blood

bbyT · June 2016

@PJpeppercorn that article was fantastic!!! Thank you. Didn't help in my decision (lol), but if I don't do it I don't feel so bad also they have a great point that public/donated cords will still be around and the chances can be good you will get your own if needed. Thank you again for posting that, it was a great read and I appreciate it!!!

charmedlifex3 · June 2016

We would prefer *not* to donate, because we would like to delay until it stops pulsing, but we may end up "banking" it for immediate use by DH's father. As of right now the cancer is gone, but it was a particularly aggressive form. If it returns in the next couple of weeks the oncologist said stem cells may be his only shot - and his grandson would have a 25% chance of being a match compared to attempting to get it off a registry. As it stands right now, his dad has been declared cancer free (yay) so no need, but we're keeping an eye on it.

Delaying clamping beyond the point of it being useable to bank has some benefits to the baby (which are proven, and some of which have been evidenced based *will* happen, not "maybe someday, might be?") - so unless we can see an immediate need I'd rather give little guy the best shot. (not to mention the cost for "just in case") DH's dad is pushing for us to delay, regardless of his health, because "his grandson is much more important!" so we decided to compromise and only bank it if it was for immediate use.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/05/26/409697568/delayed-umbilical-cord-clamping-may-benefit-children-years-later

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/health/study-endorses-later-severing-of-umbilical-cord.html

PeachGal23 · June 2016

Thank you, @Allisun85, for sharing those articles on delayed cord clamping! I'm going to ask my OB about her thoughts, as I see that ACOG has not yet endorsed the practice. For those parents who do choose to delay the 3+ minutes as mentioned in the articles, is a nurse simply holding the baby during that period, or is there a way for the mother to begin bonding or breastfeeding?

BritMC18 · June 2016

@PeachGal23 - I'll be doing the delayed cord clamping for our kiddo. Several of my friends who have done this said that baby was put onto their chest immediately and the cord was allowed to stop pulsing while they held baby.

charmedlifex3 · June 2016

@peachgal23 My practice does this as a matter of course, unless you request otherwise. They simply put the baby on mom's chest, and do skin to skin. In fact my practice recommends not removing the baby from mom's chest for the first hour of life, they use this instead of heat lamps in most cases. If mom can't (if there is a medical situation), then they ask dad to do skin to skin with the baby during this time.

I think the ACOG has not, but the WHO has - it's more of a priority in developing nations that the baby gets that boost.

From what I remember the ACOG still recommends a 30 second delay, but you can bank cord blood if it was clamped before 60 seconds.

https://www.who.int/elena/titles/cord_clamping/en/

PeachGal23 · June 2016

thanks, @BritMC18 and @Allisun85 for the helpful info! I held DD right away for skin-to-skin after she was born, but I honestly can't remember when the cord was clamped. We did choose to donate the cord blood, though, so that makes me think the cord was clamped on the earlier side.

satto_takai · June 2016

I have no direct experience. DH and I haven't really talked about it much, but my research found it is too far out of our budget. We are in agreement for planning on delayed clamping, so IDK if any cord blood would even be usable, anyway.

I would suggest definitely checking the reputation of the company from outside sources (companies will always say they are the best, they want your business). Cost is important, but so is someone who will actually do what they say they will, and use safe practices. I would be wary of anything that comes back sketchy.

Good luck on your search!

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