A question on cord blood...

[amyandelle]

For those of you who had a hospital birth what did your doctor do with the cord blood? I did not bank mine but for some reason my doctor drained the blood for my dd's cord into a sterile cup. Is this normal practice? I was too caught up in the moment to even ask why he was doing it but even now 13 months later I am still curious as to what happened to the cord blood. Did he donate it without my approval to a public cord blood bank (not that I would not approve but I would like to have known about it KWIM?)? I guess I just assumed that if you don't bank the blood they leave it in the cord?
Thanks,
Amy

[thepeach80]

I don't think mine did that. I know sometimes they send things to the hospital lab to have it analyzed for whatever reason. My friend's placenta got sent in to be tested for something and then she was stuck w/ the bill! : They can't donate it I w/out your approval and w/out blood tests and family history etc. I was going to donate mine, but they wouldn't take it b/c I had lived in Europe for a few years.