Slammed with cord blood lit?

Vastra · August 2016

Has anyone else been totally inundated with offers/pamphlets/brochures/emails/popup ads about registering cord blood? We get it, we've read up on it, we're not sure it's for us, but we'll think about it. But gah, every day some CBR place is like "give us your unborn baby's blood! Now!"

catmommac · August 2016

I've gotten a number of pamphlets. I'm in the same boat, researched a little and not thinking it's for us. But would love to hear insight from anyone who has done it and why they chose to do it.

Vastra · August 2016

And I totally respect anyone who chooses to do it. It's just a little off-putting how aggressive these companies are. I get more ads for "give us thousands of dollars to store cord blood!" than "hey, have a happy baby, here's some offers for happy baby stuff."

fourPsinapod · August 2016

I was the first time around but oddly enough have not gotten as much info this time. We chose not to, but I could see benefits for certain families to choose to do so. Maybe they remembered my preference and chose not to bombard me with pamphlets this time.

stephanoodle · August 2016

Tons of pamphlets. And emails. And ads.
If there were even half as much promotion for donating cord blood to a public bank I probably would have done that with my first (I am considering it for this one).

logison · August 2016

I think it is the opposite for me. I have gotten more lit this time for number 2 then I did for my first.
I did not store any the first time around and I won't this time either. I have heard that some hospitals will let you donate it. If ours did then we would have done that.

Vastra · August 2016

I would much rather donate than pay a bank. I may actually look into it. I plan to donate breast milk at some point as well.

scottipino · August 2016

I find the concept interesting. The cord blood from your child would rarely be able to help that same child. Mainly in the situation of needing a stem cell transplant- the problem that requires them to need the transplant would be in the stem cells themselves. Most doctors that I have spoken to about it wouldn't recommend spending the money to bank privately(rare exceptions exist). I would recommend donation though- your baby's stem cells could be a match to help someone else's child. Even more encouraged if your child is of mixed ethnicity(as mine are). Now if you already have a person in your family that has the potential for needing a transplant then yes it would be worthwhile. Most oncology groups that are treating children have ways to help families bank cord blood for free in siblings.

16isourluckynumber · August 2016

We did it with our first two kids. My thought at the time was that since we could afford it, if by some chance our child's life could be saved with it one day, then it would be worth it. This time around, I am not sure we can afford it with two already in preschool and all of our other expenses. I would feel bad about not doing the same for #3 as we did for 1 and 2 but I just don't have an extra 2K lying around... hmm, maybe it's cheaper these days, I guess I could check that before writing it off. I would easily donate to a public bank.

kirstynikole · August 2016

Like @fourPsinapod , the first time we got a lot of info but this go around we haven't.. We were interested in donating but didn't get much info on that and forgot to look into it as we got closer to delivery.

poofwok · August 2016

We did it with DS. We will do it again with this one. I figure it's well worth it because it's for a good cause.

Altough I do agree that getting a thousand brochures and pamphlets on the subject can be overkill.

MommaBean · August 2016

I'd like to donate to a public bank. I think I've only gotten two mailing so far (how do they even know?!) and I need to look into actually doing at my hospital, etc.

peachesnbean · August 2016

Both hospitals in our town donate. I filled out the waivers ahead of time- it's no big deal at all. If you don't fill out the sheets here ahead of time the bank people are super aggressive. I was at two births recently where I had to tell the lady off because she knocked on the laboring mother's door announcing "blood cord bank!" Every hour. Different births, different lady, different hospitals. But now I tell my clients (and now you ladies) to fill that ish out ahead of time to prevent the distraction in labor.

Vastra · August 2016

peachesnbean said:

Both hospitals in our town donate. I filled out the waivers ahead of time- it's no big deal at all. If you don't fill out the sheets here ahead of time the bank people are super aggressive. I was at two births recently where I had to tell the lady off because she knocked on the laboring mother's door announcing "blood cord bank!" Every hour. Different births, different lady, different hospitals. But now I tell my clients (and now you ladies) to fill that ish out ahead of time to prevent the distraction in labor.

Gross! Yeah, I'll definitely want to avoid the vultures. Thing is I really am interesting in donating, but UGH I just wish the "pay us thousands of dollars" companies would back off already. Thanks for the tip!

peachesnbean · August 2016

@Vastra -speak with your provider about donation. They should be able to give you the paperwork ahead of time so you don't get the strange visitors.

Xstatic3333 · August 2016

@peachesnbean do you know if you can still donate if you plan on delayed cord clamping?

peachesnbean · August 2016

@Xstatic3333 I think it depends on how long after you delay. For some it's until the cord stops pulsating, for others it's wel after delivery. I think the delivering provider makes note of the time passed regardless. I know I've seen it done when the cord stopped pulsing. Never had a client delay longer than that (nor have I, personally).

Xstatic3333 · August 2016

peachesnbean said:

@Xstatic3333 I think it depends on how long after you delay. For some it's until the cord stops pulsating, for others it's wel after delivery. I think the delivering provider makes note of the time passed regardless. I know I've seen it done when the cord stopped pulsing. Never had a client delay longer than that (nor have I, personally).

Thanks for your thoughts! I guess I need to look into it a bit more, but I doubt I'd be going with the extra long delay unless my MW recommends it for some reason. I'd have no problem donating the cord blood if it's doable to do both, but storing it would not be possible for us.

MeganWorden · August 2016

Between this pregnancy, my son's, and our MCs we have received some very aggressive soliciting. With our last mc they called us once a month even though I told them after the first month of our situation. Every call triggered a whole new wave of pain about the mc. By what would have been month eight, I finally convince somebody to put me through to management and insisted on being placed on the "never contact this person ever again, in any way" list. It was getting to the point where I was thinking about contacting a lawyer. But I think my situation was a bit extreme. Most people do not seem to have this issue.

I am all for cord blood banking btw. We donated ds's when he was born. It was part of our intake paperwork that was filled out 2 weeks before my due date.

Vastra · August 2016

@MeganWorden UGH I'm so sorry you went through that! How hideously inappropriate. That's when the companies are crossing the line from "we're doing something great and life-saving!" into "we're money-hungry pharmadouches with no soul and we don't actually give a shit about you."

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