As a pregnant woman, I see advertisements all the time for cord blood banking. I am nearing the end of this pregnancy so I am definitely more aware of this because I haven’t really decided what I am going to do. It all seems a little controversial. I did not do this for my twins and I always felt a little guilty about it. My OB at the time didn’t recommend cord blood banking. He said that we were better off putting that money toward the boys’ college education. It was all very new at that time and he didn’t feel there had been enough research. He also had made a good point that there was no regulation in regard to these banks and who knows if they would even be around in a few years. This seems to be the general consensus among physicians. I have spoken to several obstetricians who feel the same way. I have also read several articles where the American Medical Association was cited as saying it feels it could be a waste of money.
All of the above concerns private cord blood “banking“. It appears everyone is in “favor” of donating the cord blood to a public “bank” if you will. Cord blood can be used to treat a variety of diseases, for example leukemia, but again, many Ob’s say it hasn’t turned out to be as successful as they had anticipated. There is around a one in 20,000 chance that you would use this for your child. The cost is thousands of dollars. They say the real value is donating to a public bank that can be utilized by many.
Of course, the private cord blood banks play and tug on your heartstrings. It makes me feel terrible to think, “what if something happened to one of my children and I hadn’t banked the cord blood?”
I am reaching out to you Smarties to see what your views and opinions are regarding this topic. I would also love to hear why you did or didn’t store the cord blood. Again, donating the cord blood is highly recommended if you don’t bank yours. It appears that a high percentage of mothers are unaware of this option and the majority is discarded as medical waste. We would also love to hear what bank you used if you did bank your cord blood and why you chose that particular one. There are several out there these days.
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16 comments
We chose to use a private cord blood bank and have not regreted it yet, though we went through many of the same dilemas you are going through. 1) Yes, it's expensive and feeds off your worse fears 2) If you have the ability to use it, it's the best insurance you can buy, that hopefully you will never need to use 3) If you ever did need it, you would be thanking heaven above that you had the foresight and means to do it ahead of time. I work closely with a cancer organization locally and I can guarantee many of these families would love to have something like this in their back pocket had it been an option. I think it's a highly individual choice that you and your husband need to make, considering your means and ability, your family's health history and basic gut feeling. Hopefully it'll be the best money you ever threw away! 🙂 Good luck with your decision!
I am pregnant with my second and I think we are going to chose NOT to bank cord blood even though we did bank for our first. After doing a lot of research, I just feel like our money is better spent elsewhere. Here is one article that really hit home for us…http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health/2009/03/private-umbilical-cord-blood-banking.html
I didn't do it either with all four of my children. It was just so expensive that it priced us out of the option. We too thought about the future of these banks and would they really be around long-term? I think donating the cord blood sounds like a no-brainer, is there an expense to that? How do you coordinate it?
I'm not a mother but I did a little bit of research in the past.My take on this is that we are still at a very early stage and I think stem cells will eventually be used for many different diseases/conditions. Science is moving very fast in my opinion and I see cord blood storage as a small investment. From Wikipedia: "In the United States, the lifetime probability (up to age 70) that an individual will undergo an autologous transplant of their own stem cells is 1 in 435". This was using data from 2001-2003, and I believe this probability will only increase as science progresses. Who knows what stem cells can be used for in 20 years from now?Depending on your insurance, you may get discounts. For example, CorCell has a few insurance partners (FYI, this company is opening its new lab next Friday). Also, your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) may be used so you could avoid income tax on the procedure. Of course, it depends on your family's financial situation, but I don't see the annual fee as very expensive (~$150 a year?). The initial fee is pretty steep (~$2,000?) so make sure you check for any possible discount you can get (FSA, insurance, etc). Would it be inappropriate to have this as a gift on the baby registry?
I think donating is a great idea but not all hospitals have that service. I was at Presby and at the time they did not do it. I am not sure if they do now.
We chose not to bank our 5 year old twins' cord blood after our OB told us it was a waste of money. Unfortunately, both of my boys have CP from being born prematurely. There was a study with great results being done on children with CP who had banked their own cord blood, but ONLY if they banked their own. Because of this, we missed out on a potentially great treatment for their condition. With CP, treatments seem to work best the younger the children are, so even if this treatment is available in the next 5 years or so for other children, we may have missed our opportunity for a treatment. Just because it isn't being used right now for a treatment for a disorder, doesn't mean that it won't ever be used. If I had it to do over, I would choose to bank it.
Still such a controversial topic. I find it interesting how much the estimates of the odds that a child will ever use his or her own stored cord blood vary. We did not store cord blood for our children, and I have no regrets. Here is an excellent article that I think explains the pros and cons very fairly: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/features/banking-your-babys-cord-blood
My understanding is you have to have this all set up prior to giving birth. You also are responsible for having which ever bank you are planing to use get you all of the "stuff" that is involved in banking early on. When I asked about it at 26wks I was told I was a bit too late to get the process started….of course things may have changed in the past 2yrs.
In response to the last post, we recived ours FedEx 2 days b4 our baby was born. WEhad to pay a little extra, but we got it in time.
I donated my cord blood to a public bank when my first was born and would have done the same with my second but it wasn't an option (presby main, daughter was in a different state). I am all for making banks a public option. I think a lot could be done with cord blood and with stem cell research restrictions finally lifted we will start to see many of them. It's a tough personal decision, good luck.
I believe in private cord blood banking so much that I gave my stepdaughter a baby shower gift of cord banking. I did alot of research – I wanted an ethical company that I could trust, that invested in the technology (and not just hard sales advertising) and that had affordable prices.I chose cordbancusa – they are really good people. They were patient with me, kind and really care about what they're doing. If you get a chance to call them, ask for Roberta – I thought she was so nice and caring. I think they're number is 1-888-273-7770. Good luck whatever you decide.
Thanks for all the comments! I appreciate the info on different articles as well. I have some homework to do, QUICKLY!
I donated to a national public bank 3 yrs ago with my second child (didn't know of the option with my first 7 yrs ago). It was very easy to arrange for the kit and have the dr perform right after birth. She was pretty psyched about it too since none of the Charlotte hospitals offer it for a local bank. I plan to also donate with my 3rd child in a couple of months but I'm hoping to donate to the Carolinas bank. They have just begun a kit program to collect at hospitals other than those currently listed as participating. I'm anxiously awaiting my packet. Here is the link for the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank: http://www.cancer.duke.edu/ccbb/Good luck!
Here is more information regarding pricing: http://www.babyslifeline.com/pricingLong story short: $1,750 (including first year storage) then $125 a year after that.
We did not have the opportunity with our first because he was born at 27 weeks. I only wish we had been able to do it, as our son ended up with cerebral palsy and if we had banked his cord blood, there is a study now at Duke that is using kids' own cord blood to treat CP. We did bank our daughter's when she was born in September, with the hope that she would be a match to her brother, so that when the treatment for CP extends to siblings' blood, we could hopefully use hers. We used Viacord because they are currently working with a university in Texas to clone the stem cells found in the cord blood so that the stored supply can be used for more then one treatment. In all likelihood, if an illness comes up it will use the entire batch of stored blood for treatment, but if they are able to clone it, it has the possibility to service more illnesses. And don't forget – there's also a 50% chance that the blood would match either of the parents, so it could help you later on in life, too. Good luck with your decision!
After much deliberating – weighing our options and the cost, we decided that cord blood banking was the right decision for us. It is expensive upfront but we certainly felt that it is the best insurance one can buy. Not only will it potentially help your child whose blood it is, it can also benefit siblings and parents if the match is right. We chose Cryo-Cell in 2004 and also banked with them for our 2nd child in '06 and now will be banking with them in Jan. for our 3rd child. We have been extremely pleased with their professionalism, concern for us as a patient/client and desire to help us fit this into our budget. They always have nursing staff on call 24/7 for inquiries and concerns. Personally, I felt it was worth it to give up certain luxuries in life to have this as peace of mind. We have never regretted our decision. The possibilities with cord blood are endless! Please consider it for your child and your family.