Cord Blood Banking

Hello all,

I am not sure if i am even posting this in the appropriate section but here goes.

I am seriously considering collecting the cord blood from this pregnancy for future use. I would have been quite happy to dontate the cord blood to a cord blood bank, but at the moment in Perth I dont think that is an option.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else has saved their cord blood after previous pregnancy's or from anyone who is planning to collect the cord blood from this pregnancy?

Also if anyone knows how you go about organising this process any information would be greatly appreciated :confused:

Any help or opinions would be great :D

Cheers

Not sure on how you go about it, but one thing I found out that I didn't realise is that it can't be used for the baby it came from. So if that child gets ill, it can't get it's own cord blood. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about that though...

Did you realise if you donate cord blood, or store it, the cord needs to be cut immediately after birth? There are MANY good reasons to allow your baby to have it's own cord blood which you can read about here: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth/...-cord-clamping

I thought about it in my first pregnancy, but wasn't prepared to pay the amount for private storage. I was happy to donate the cord blood for anyone elses use. If it helped an ill person - and saved anyone's life - then it would be a great thing...

I believe there are only two hospitals in melbourne that collect 'public' core blood - although I might be wrong there...

The other thing I question is if I would be able to donate cord blood (publicly or privately) as I am not allowed to donate normal blood, because I lived in England for 3 years during the 'mad cow' experience.

I might make some more enquiries into it this time around. If I am able to donate the cord blood - I will definately do it.

I researched this a little when I was pg and I think I couldn't find a facility to donate the cord blood in Perth.

I wouldn't do it for the reasons Kelly's article mentions. Cutting a baby off it's cord is injurious to it's health and can leave a high proportion of it's own needed blood supply behind in the placenta. That doesn't really help anyone. It sounds like a great altruistic thing to do but there are other ways to help people like donate your own adult blood which you can spare rather than that of a baby who isn't making the choice themselves and who needs every drop of their own blood to function optimally after birth.

we saved elysia's cord blood - well her uncle paid for it to be used for his son who has CF & if any one else needs it! as i had a c section the cord blood was collected after the cord was cut & they got more than enough from the cord & it is now stored in sydney - i had a few health issues in the past including living in england in the mad cow period as well as having viral hepatitis but after further tests before the cord blood collection i was given the all clear - we are the guardians of the cord blood till elysia turns 18 so im hoping it can be used to help her cousin in some way -there are sooooooooo many illnesses it can help & after processing it they have only stored 42mls which i was told is more than enough

My DD's cord blood is also stored at a private facility. There were 2 places that stored it at the time. We decided it was like an insurance policy and wecould afford it then. With the next one we can't afford it but it is possible for a siblings blood to help the other.

This time I am also delaying cutting the cord so I guess there won't be any cord blood anyway.

Have you triedgoogling it or talking to the hospital? I can't afford the storage costs (isn't it 6k?). I want bubs to get all his blood though it's what would naturally occur without human intervention and is beneficial for bubbers.

The amount of blood donated from a cord is about 70mls,this isn't enough to make a big difference to a major disease. If you have a physiological third stage the baby will benefit immediately from the blood instead of storing it just in case.
Lisa Barrett

I will donate the the cord blood from my baby.
This is just my thoughts. As the cord pulses, yes arterial blood runs from placenta into baby, but venous blood is running back at the same time. My baby will have been getting the nutrients from the cord for 40 weeks, and i dont think in the last 3 min he/she will get any super special blood.
If i have a sick/dying baby in the future i would like to think that someone else has donated their babies cord blood inorder to save mine.
It is not the volume of blood that is important, so much as the stem cells. They can be used to generate red blood cells and cells of the immune system. This can treat immune system diseases such as leukaemia, and autoimmune diseases.

Yes i agree my baby could benefit from the blood, but perhaps not as much as a baby with leukemia.

Also from what I understand, the only cancers etc they can help are the really uncommon ones, so worth looking into what problems they do help. The list is impressive, but I think from memory the more common forms aren't covered, so they don't help as many as you may think.

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The amount of blood donated from a cord is about 70mls,this isn't enough to make a big difference to a major disease.

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I beg to differ about the difference it makes.

I worked in a paediatric oncology/haematology ward for over 2 years before I fell pregnant, and it made such a difference to those children with aggressive forms of blood born cancers. I'm not going to bore people with the specifics, but it made a significant difference and all three of those children who received products from cord blood are still with us today, something that may not have been possible without the blood product.

I understand that people are entitled to their own opinions, but I think gms78's question was about storing blood, and not about the benefits of storing blood. Perhaps we should get back to the original question?

gms78 - I think the best thing to do would be to call your hospital and determine whether or not they have the facilities to store the cord blood, as it needs to be done immediately after birth and some hospitals cannot collect blood because they cannot store it properly.

Hope that helps

I don't see a problem with providing some information she may not know, and many people do not know, because of the myths surrounding it and unbalanced info - there is only one side to donating cord blood available in marketing material. I am sure she will tell us if she doesn't want this info - she did ask for opinions after all.

Hi,

Perth has only recently had the capability to store the blood, it was not taken before December of 2006. The initial cost is around $3,000 with a payment of about $600 a year for storage. I konw I wasn't able to store the cord blood even if I had decided to because I am A-, I know some Ob's aren't in favour of it, but my friend had hers collected at SJOGS.

I just finished reading Gentle birth, gentle mothering by Sarah J Buckley and she discusses this topic in some detail and i have to say i wouldn't do it now. I wasn't aware of the risks associated with cutting the cord early and the fact that there are few illnesses it can cure especially for your own baby. Of course i feel for any sick child that could benefit from it, but i'm sorry, not at the expense of my baby's health.
I honestly don't know with my first how long after the birth the cord was cut, but having done a bit more reading on the topic this time around it is a question and issue that i will definately be discussing. I am more than happy to have a "messy" baby and cord all over me for a few minutes while I help my baby make the transition from womb to world.

This is definitely something I'm thinking of doing but dont yet know all the in's and out's. I have my first ob appt tomorrow so will sus it all out then.

If it wasnt as expensive as it is to bank it privately I would do it because it helps with research into Multiple Sclerosis and I have that so thats my reason. Probably would have been better if it was mine that was donated/stored. I have seen a programe on TV where the parents of a sick child that needed the steam cells to get better became pregnant to get the cells from the babys cord. That was kinda interesting but I cant remember what was wrong with the kid.