Cord Blood?

[melon]

Seems like everywhere i look there is something telling me to bank my baby's cord blood. It seems like the "newest thing".
Is anyone doing it? Is it really necessary?

[mamadelbosque]

No, and no. Its for 'just in case' your child or someone very closely related has genetic problem that someday could maybe, theoretically be helped/fixed with the stem cells from your childs cord blood. All of these things are at this point, highly unlikely. IMO, most of the 'bank your childs cord blood' deals are just a scam...

[Sheryl1678]

In addition to the need for banked cord blood being highly unlikely, I also feel that the blood inside the cord and placenta belongs to your baby at the time of birth and belongs inside the baby, not inside a storage facility somewhere.

[Siobhain]

we delay clamping and cutting the cord so that the baby benefits from all that cord blood at birth, not *maybe* years later down the road. JMO

Warmly,
Erin
EDD #5 9-15-09

[dawncayden]

scam

[BtotheG]

I agree with previous posters - I think it has little value. Cord blood banking companies aggressively market their services and make alot of money of storage. But when you look over their contracts - they usually can't guarantee that they will have a usable sample of blood should you ever need it (though they won't necessarily be able to tell you that upfront, and will gladly take your money to store a useless sample), some companies can't guarantee that they won't used some of the blood for general research/experiments - and don't tell you that alot of the treatments they tout DON'T ACTUALLY EXIST YET. It's all about storing the blood for IF your child needs it, and IF the sample is viable, and IF there has actually been a treatment developed, and IF the cord blood is suitable for those treatments.

That's alot of ifs in blood banking - but it's certain that the baby could benefit from the O2 rich blood right after birth.

I'll have to track down more of my sources, but here's an article in Nature that talks about it:


http://www.nature.com/stemcells/2008...s.2008.48.html

It talks about other methods of collection besides just cord blood - but it mentions the uncertainty surrounding the usefulness of banking.

[Mizelenius]

I donate it.

[minsca]

I would never bank it, but please consider donating it! If you click on the two last links on my signature there is a video of my nephew who was in desperate need of a bone marrow match. (Warning * it does not end happy) They did find a partial cord blood match that the would have used if the cancer wasn't so aggressive. However because of all the time we spent at the Children's Hospital I know children whose lives are saved because of cord blood donations. One two year old boy is on day 38 of his bone marrow transplant with donated cord blood and is now home from the hospital for the first time since his diagnosis of AML almost a year ago.
Anyways I'm sure you can understand why I am very strongly supportative of donating cord blood.
Look at all the info out there though before making your decision that is best for you, your family, and your baby.

[Kristin0105]

We donated our dd cord blood.

[dogmom327]

We delayed cord clamping so there would likely not have been enough left. I think DS was better off for it. If I had children of mixed racial heritage or an ethnicity that would be difficult to find a bone marrow donor (saw this occasionally when I worked in a hospital), I'd consider it. But given our racial and ethnic background, I'm not too worried.

[wanderinggypsy]

I am hugely in favor of the benefits of delayed clamping/cutting. Which pretty much rules out banking any blood.

Also, technology is steadily improving and it is well within our reach to be able to harvest stem cells much more readily than we can at present from a live and willing participant. Cord blood banking is totally not necessary.

By the way unfortunately I've spent a LOT of time in a pediatric oncology clinic with my daughter, and out of the dozens and dozens of children we've met who were patients, NOT ONE had even been presented the possibility of a stem cell transplant - banked blood or no banked blood.

[StrongFeather]

donate!
what goes around, hopefully will come around *should* you need it someday!

[Veritaserum]

My babies get their cord blood at birth.

[toobadsosad]

We are going to bank our baby's cord blood.

Private cord blood banking is a form of health insurance and security for both our baby and our family, so it's money well spent. It is expensive, but we made it affordable by setting up a gift registry at CBR to let our family and friends help defray the expense by contributing. And we saved another $250 with the gift code at
http://www.cord-blood-banking-coupon.com

If you think about the money you may be spending on your baby, for example for childcare which could be $500-$1000 per month, an investment like this, for something that could save a life, falls into perspective.

Donation is a great alternative, but the odds of finding a good match from a public bank should you want it aren't great. The stem cells from your own child are the best match.

[TzippityDoulah]

Originally Posted by Sheryl1678

In addition to the need for banked cord blood being highly unlikely, I also feel that the blood inside the cord and placenta belongs to your baby at the time of birth and belongs inside the baby, not inside a storage facility somewhere.

yep, same here.

that blood isn't "just" cord blood...it's the baby's blood. it's dangerous to clamp and cut the umbilical cord too soon as a lot of the baby's blood id still coming from the placenta- which is an organ. it would be like taking half of my liver out and saving it in a liver bank in case I ever need it later in life. but umm... I need it now thank you!

[NicoleWisconsin]

If you want to delay clamping/cutting, there is usually not enough left to donate or bank the baby's cord blood. So we're not because we are delaying.

[poiyt]

I would donate it if we werent delaying the cutting/clamping. I know when I donate its going to someone whereas if I just bank - well, then there are all the above issues (not being able to use it etc..)

[skent]

I was able to delay the clamping of my baby's cord blood and to bank the cord blood as well.  My healthcare representative from PacifiCord, the company we banked with, and I coordinated it with my OB.  There is a method that the physician can do to try to collect as much blood as possible even after delaying cord clamping.  Here is an article that discusses delayed cord clamping and banking:

http://www.naturalbabypros.com/information-cord-blood-collection