Cord blood?

[scout123]

Did anyone have their DC's cord blood saved? DH and I have been discussing it, but can't decide what to do. Neither of us have any family history of diseases that make us think we really need do it, but then I would hate to not do it and then need it. Any advice?
Thanks,
Angie

[jd11365]

If you hit the search button and put Cord Blood, you should find a bunch of old threads on the topic. We went with New England Cord Bank. Gave us the most bang for the buck. I didn't want to think I'd possibly need it someday and not have it.

HTH!

[murpheyblue]

The San Francisco Chronicle just ran an article about cord blood banking.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...sn=001&sc=1000

I'm not advocating any position in the article, just sharing info.

[barbarhow]

We ttempted with DS but they did not obtain enough blood so it was scrapped by the company. Did not try with #2.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03, a Red Sox fan
and Anna 5/12/05, my little Yankee fan!

[Lucia]

We donated our son's cord blood...a good option if you decide not to bank it...it was free, easy to do, and we felt good that it might be used to help someone in need. I am suprised that donation doesn't happen more or get discussed as a routine part of planning for delivery (ie doctor asking if you want to donate). Do what feels right for your family and check out several different companies since that may impact your decision.

Lucia
mom to Noah 2/2003

[COElizabeth]

We donated, too, through Cryobanks International, and as the pp said, it was free, easy, and felt good. Whether you decide to bank or donate the blood, make sure you okay it with your doctor or midwife first, since he or she will have to do the actual collection. My OB practice was fine with collecting the blood, but for legal reasons (having to do with some patent infringement case, not a health concern), the practice limited us to choosing among a few banks.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
and Charlotte, 11-04-04

[annabellesmom]

I asked about donating as well and was told that my hospital did not do it :( I wonder why, it was a big boston hospital you would think they would be on top of these things.

[JMS]

At the time of DD's birth, my OB practice charged $150 to collect the cord blood. They were also very opinionated that banking was mostly hype (please don't flame, not my opinion, just what I was told without any prior research). For those reasons, I didn't bank or donate.

[dowlinal]

We did it with Madeline and will most likely do it again with this one. I have mixed feelings about it because I feel like the whole marketing campaign is an attempt to scare us into thinking that we have to do this or else. However, due to our family history DH and I decided that we should.

We used viacord and I was really pleased with the whole experience. I was amazed that they we at the hospital to pick up the cord blood before I was even out of the recovery room.

A

[sidmand]

My big Boston hospital also told me that they didn't offer donation (same hospital? Beth Israel?). We did end up going with Viacord, partly at the recommendation of the OB (he said if we were going to do it, he liked Viacord) and partly because we did like what they had to offer (and they happened to call the same day we decided to go ahead!).

For us it mostly came down to the fact that if we ever needed the cord blood and could have banked it and didn't, we would feel awful. It does seem like mostly hype and I asked the same questions a couple of months ago. I'm still not sure I totally believe/agree with it, but for myself, I ended up feeling like it was the best choice for me.

Debbie

Mom to Sawyer!