Cord Blood Banks

so my background is in transfusion medicine-- blood banking. the feeling from this perspective is that cord blood is not recommended at this point bc there aren't any good standard ways of preserving the cells, and they haven't been used enough practically.

that being said, i did it anyway. bc if i have to make a choice, i'd rather err on the safest side for my child. and i do believe that someday they will become very useful.

I read an article about this a few weeks ago and it really discouraged the practice. If your child develops some type of disease and you try to use the cord blood, it's very likely that the cord blood it going to have the same diseased components as your baby does. There are very few instances when the cord blood can be used to help the child; it seems the best possibility for using the cord blood is to help a sibling of the child down the road, but even that is uncertain. Do some online research and see what you find. I can't find the article I read, but the cord blood industry seems to prey on parents' fears, without offering a worthwhile solution.

N., when I was in the position of deciding, I asked pediatricians that I was interviewing about the banking cord blood. Have you found one yet? If so, why don't you ask him/her a number of questions about it. You might want to start with asking how many times within their practice they have had to use or refer a patient for usage. Or if they even have access to articles/trials of how many times it has been used period. Or what the future has in store for banked blood. If you ask any doc their opinion of whether you should or not, you'll probably get "do it if you can afford it". I suspect some might answer this way from the standpoint of liability. It is a tough decision, can be a lot of money, and a lot of guilt weighs in if you find yourself not doing it, so BIG decision. Good luck!

Personally I would donate it. ATM there isnt as much known about it to warrent the cost of banking, however in donation you could help them to be able to understand everything. And yes studies Ive read do state that if your child has something like Luekimia or other diseases... the predisposition for the cord to have it is there as well.. and there for non useable as a cure. I donated my sons when he was born in FL, there was a 25-35 fee for donation (and we were dirt poor at the time) and yet I still found a way to do it.

I banked blood from my first childs birth. I was an uncomplicated birth so it was no big deal. I donated it however because I want to help people who might need it NOW as opposed to banking it for a remote possibility we would need it.
L.
www.lizzyzinn.com

N.,
I debated over the whole cord blood issue with both of my pregnancies. When I was pregnant with my first (born at the end of 2003), my obgyn was about 50/50 on whether she herself would do it if she were me. So I decided against it. When I was pregnant with my second she told me that she would probably do it now ( I had my son in February of 2006). She said that there isn't a lot they can do with it now but the future implications for treatment of different diseases using cord blood is great. Things like heart problems, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes are a few of the things that they are hoping cord blood might be able to help. Also, it could be used for the child or maybe a close family member depending on compatibility.
Anyways, I decided to bank my second child's blood (I actually made the decision 2 weeks before I delivered :) ). It wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be. A little less than $2000 for the original storage and about $125/year after that.
I had narrowed it down to CBR and Viacord. In the end, I chose CBR. I had a friend at church who is in the medical research field and she banked with CBR (she had a bunch of reasons why she thought they were better, too many to list here) and I liked their storage location better.
Hopefully that helps. I know that it can be a bit overwhelming when looking at the banks. Especially since they all pretty much look the same when you get their information :)
Finally, CBR does have a referral program. If you decide to use them and you felt that my information played a part of your decision please let me know and I'll give you my information to give to them for referral.
Either way, good luck making the decision. I know it's a lot to figure out especially at the end of your pregnancy!
D.

I banked my baby's blood. My sister just banked her sons as well. If you don't know family history, or if you have a lot of family history of illness I think it is a great idea. I used CBR because my fertility specialist and my midwife recommended it. My sister used CBR as well because her OB recommended it. I have a $250 off coupon if you would like. If you give them the code 806066168 you can use it. Their phone # is 1-888-224-7554 and their website is www.cordblood.com/clientspecial. Good luck!