Thoughts on Blood Cord Banking?

[JennyG]

My husband and I are seriously leaning toward storing the cord blood. This is our first (and only) baby together so she won't have any full sibblings - which I think makes it more important to do.

It's expensive over here.....about $1000 the first year and about $1150 for years 2-18 inclusive.

Anyone else thinking about or have stored the cord blood?

 

[Mervs Mum]

It's not as common here in the UK and is way more expensive as there are few companies that offer the service. I think if it were more readily available and competitively priced I'd go for it

 

[titch]

Someone told me you should let all the cord blood drain into baby before cutting it cos it helps their early immune system but a lot of midwifes dont do this. I havent researched it any further though...

 

[ria__x]

we're not really told about this in the UK as Mervs Mum mentioned. what exactly is it? xx

 

[Mervs Mum]

Blood cord banking is basically where you have the cord preserved as it contains stem cells. Stem cells are how organs are made so put simply, in the event of your child needing a transplant of some type, the cord cells could be used to get an exact match organ.

Tiny - you're right about allowing the cord to stop pulsing before cutting it but thats nothing to do with this

 

[evajo]

Blood cord banking is basically where you have the cord preserved as it contains stem cells. Stem cells are how organs are made so put simply, in the event of your child needing a transplant of some type, the cord cells could be used to get an exact match organ.

Tiny - you're right about allowing the cord to stop pulsing before cutting it but thats nothing to do with this

Was your mw happy to let the cord stop pulsing before it was cut? In my experience they cut it straight away - but i was also reading about this last night!

 

[bearsmummy]

I'd love to donate mine but the hospital i am with won't let me x

 

[ria__x]

ooo i'll have to ask my hopsital about this! thanks xx

 

[JennyG]

Doctors here are a bit more anxious to cut the cord right away and do the Apgar on the baby. You really have to be firm with them but the midwives are awesome and understand how important it is.

The research on cord blood is fascinating. They say childhood leukemia is almost 100% curable with it. It can also help other types of cancer, autoimmune diseases like lupus and MS, metabolic diseases, immunodeficiency diseases...

They will store the blood for 10 -18 years and in the future hope to use cord blood with strokes, spinal cord injuries, transplants, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, Parkinson’s....the possibilities are staggering.

I haven’t looked into what happens after 18 years ie do you store it longer, donate it or destroy it.

Anyway, I am thinking that it's worth the expense.

 

[JennyG]

I'd love to donate mine but the hospital i am with won't let me x

Do you have to pick your hospital in advance? Are the hospitals in the UK private or government run?

 

[Mervs Mum]

Was your mw happy to let the cord stop pulsing before it was cut? In my experience they cut it straight away - but i was also reading about this last night!

It's my cord and my baby so there was never a question of being 'allowed' to do anything! It was left to pulse with my last two babies. With my son I had a 100% physiological 3rd stage (no injection or manipulation to help remove the placenta) and the cord pulsed till it stopped after 10 mins. I wouldnt have allowed them to cut it before unless there was an emergency with the baby but as it was I had a smashing MW (at home) and she encouraged a natural 3rd stage anyway.

By cutting the cord before it's stopped pulsing, you are effectively having your baby start out without a full blood supply so it's really important that you allow all the blood to cross unless there is a real reason to need to cut the cord immediately.

 

[bearsmummy]

They ask when you first see your midwife but they generally put you in a government hospital. x

 

[Mervs Mum]

I'd love to donate mine but the hospital i am with won't let me x

Do you have to pick your hospital in advance? Are the hospitals in the UK private or government run?

we have a health service similar to Canada from my understanding Jenny. We do have private hospitals but the majority of people use the National Health Service

 

[evajo]

Was your mw happy to let the cord stop pulsing before it was cut? In my experience they cut it straight away - but i was also reading about this last night!

It's my cord and my baby so there was never a question of being 'allowed' to do anything! It was left to pulse with my last two babies. With my son I had a 100% physiological 3rd stage (no injection or manipulation to help remove the placenta) and the cord pulsed till it stopped after 10 mins. I wouldnt have allowed them to cut it before unless there was an emergency with the baby but as it was I had a smashing MW (at home) and she encouraged a natural 3rd stage anyway.

By cutting the cord before it's stopped pulsing, you are effectively having your baby start out without a full blood supply so it's really important that you allow all the blood to cross unless there is a real reason to need to cut the cord immediately.

Thanks MM - you are good at this take no messing business. I was so young I had my first three i would have gone along with almost anything they said and even had my last homebirth cancelled at last min due to lack of staff! I'm much tougher this time at making my point and more confident at standing up for myself. This time if there is no mw i'm going to carry on at home anyway - they will soon send someone when they realise i'm not coming in!

 

[Mervs Mum]

Absolutely they will!! I was just the same with my eldest....I did as I was told as I was only 20 myself. I made up for it with the next two!

 

[JJ Mum]

Mine were all sections, and I think they cut the cord straightaway, I guess to zipp me up, but 10 mins more wouldn't make much difference I would have thought, sounds really inportant tok the baby tho.
My last two had slight blood thickness problems due to antibodies too, so this would maybee have helped!!

 

[JennyG]

Thanks MM - you are good at this take no messing business. I was so young I had my first three i would have gone along with almost anything they said and even had my last homebirth cancelled at last min due to lack of staff! I'm much tougher this time at making my point and more confident at standing up for myself. This time if there is no mw i'm going to carry on at home anyway - they will soon send someone when they realise i'm not coming in![/QUOTE]

You go girl! I bet you're right - someone will be there pretty quick!

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

if you watch any birth, you will notice that the baby is relatively calm until the cord is cut (prematurely in my eyes) at which point they scream and gasp for air. Basically when the baby is being born, the placenta is working as a lung/heart etc still and oxygenating the blood to the baby for its travel down the birth canal. when they come out as much as 25% of their blood can still be in the placenta being oxygenated, so its a little bit like clasping your hand over someones mouth, you are taking away not only blood from the child but perhaps most of its oxygenated blood

its a babaric thing to do and has clearly not be reasearched much by the medical profession (for them still to be performing cord cutting so needlessly and quickly) It is in big bold letters in my birthing plan, my mother and husband have that as their first priority, get the baby out, allow the cord to pulse for as long as necessary before cutting and THEN worry about me/my health

As we know oxygen in the blood supplies many things including oxygen to the brain and i am not willing to risk my childs mental well-being at the hands of some NHS nurse whose in a rush!

<sorry to ramble, feel quite strongly about this one>

 

[titch]

ahhh okay this has saved me some research, I knew Id heard something about not cutting the cord too soon and had made a mental note to research I'll be adding that one to my birth plan.