What to do with Baby's cord blood

[ThePalindromicOne]

I thought I would start this thread/poll after lurking on May 15.  I already know what I'm planning on doing barring any significant developments over the next 12 weeks and of course things can change in an instant if labor/delivery doesn't go a planned.  I thought maybe this would be a good way to educate people on the pros and cons to any of the options especially if they haven't made a firm decision or thought about it yet.  Andplusalso, a little debate might spice things up a little bit =)

Sorry for those that are mobile and can't see the poll, you'll have you tell us if you're planning on 1) donating for public use, 2) banking for private use, 3) delayed cord clamping, 4) trying to do both, donating/banking and delayed cord clamping, 5) Undecided, 6)  Wut?

[mrskblack11]

I plan on donating for public use. I do need to whip out the pamphlet that my OB gave me to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.

[Deleted]

Donating to a public bank. I need to remember to talk to my doc about this next week.

[ladysif]

I'm undecided because this is on my list to talk to the doctor about at the next appointment. I wanted to donate with DS and we researched and discussed it with my OB at the time. We ended up not doing it because it would have cost us several hundred dollars (not the full amount of doing it privately, I remember, but still a huge cost, like $700) to donate it. Apparently with our hospital and OB practice, the kit still had to be purchased and they didn't cover the cost, even for donation. I'm hoping that policy has changed. We couldn't have done it anyway with DS because the cord was wrapped around his neck and had to be cut immediately.

I would love to bank it from the paranoid mama stance, having known a couple friends whose kids have had leukemia. The cost is prohibitive and DH would rather donate because it is more likely to be used that way. But I know if I am ever unlucky enough to have to deal with a child with cancer I will have extreme mama guilt for not doing it.

While I like the idea of delayed cord clamping and wanted to do that with DS as we decided donating was too expensive, I feel differently now that it didn't happen with him; it is kind of no big deal since that happened, so I'd rather donate this time if possible... and free. Or at least much lower cost than several hundred!

[omgtree]

Mine is getting sent in for genetic testing.

[tulips114]

I can't see the poll on mobile, but I'd be #3 delayed clamping.

[ThePalindromicOne]

ladysif Wow - that is a lot to donate publicly - I'm quite surprised even with having to do the leg work on your own. I hope it's changed as well!

I plan on donating publicly, I work at a transplant center and have seen many lives saved thanks to cord blood donors. I'm going to ask if there are any ways of anticipating whether I could successfully do both, delayed clamping and enough for public donation (like if I have a big honking placenta and extra long cord or something like that), but I would hate to attempt and then eff it up and no one benefits. If baby comes early and is a premie - I may reconsider solely delayed clamping...

[billyhorrible]

I'm playing it by ear. I had wanted to do delayed cord clamping last time, but the cord was wrapped around his neck 3 times so the doctor literally reached in and pulled him out while unwrapping the cord, then cut it and rushed him over to the warmer. Everything was really out of my hands so I don't want to get my heart set on anything right now.

[Widget123]

I voted delayed cord clamping because that is what I told my OBs that I wanted to do for DD but I was so out of it after labor was over, I have no idea if they actually did it or not. I have an OB appointment this afternoon and now feel inspired to ask them about public donation. If its free to me, I think I might try to do that this time.

[holliberry28]

I will definitely like to donate it if it isn't a huge cost, plan to ask my OB on Thursday. Can someone educate me on the pros of delayed clamping? I've heard it has benefits, but wasn't so clear on the validity of those claims.

[Bluedaisy]

I would donate if possible but the only option where I am is to bank for private use so it's a no for us.

[wink568]

Somebody from the hospital is going to be coming to our next birth class on Sunday to discuss cord banking options. DH and I will probably make a decision some point after that.

[wormgerm]

From my understanding the baby-> cord-> placenta is a closed system and that the "cord blood" is really baby's blood that should be in his or her body. Babies don't produce their own red blood cells for a while so it is beneficial to give them the "extra" RBC's. The only downside to delayed clamping is increased risk of jaundice. Before I read that I was planning on public banking but now I'm planning on delayed clamping.

I don't believe there is any wrong answer to this topic. Pretty sure none of us had delayed clamping. Cord blood obviously does a world of good to those who need it. It's a personal choice like oh so many other parenting dilemmas.

[ThePalindromicOne]

Mar 9, 2015 9:40:55 GMT -5 wormgerm said:

From my understanding the baby-> cord-> placenta is a closed system and that the "cord blood" is really baby's blood that should be in his or her body. Babies don't produce their own red blood cells for a while so it is beneficial to give them the "extra" RBC's. The only downside to delayed clamping is increased risk of jaundice. Before I read that I was planning on public banking but now I'm planning on delayed clamping.

I don't believe there is any wrong answer to this topic. Pretty sure none of us had delayed clamping. Cord blood obviously does a world of good to those who need it. It's a personal choice like oh so many other parenting dilemmas.

While I agree with a lot of what you're saying, of course baby's cord blood is baby's blood, my kidney is my kidney and belongs in me but would donate one in a second if it saved/prolonged someone's life. Just to add more perspectives to the discussion.

[baytosa2013]

I really hadn't thought much about this until now. I just looked up our hospital and they are part of a large collection group that is free to donate. I will do some research and talk to my Dr. about delayed clamping. I would love to keep our baby's blood but the cost is just too much privately from the info I have been given. I think the next best thing would be to donate so that hopefully someone else's baby can be saved. I'd hope that if we ever did need it, that we would be able to pull from the donation bank at that time even if it wasn't specifically our blood.

[wormgerm]

Mar 9, 2015 9:59:56 GMT -5 ThePalindromicOne said:

Mar 9, 2015 9:40:55 GMT -5 wormgerm said:

From my understanding the baby-> cord-> placenta is a closed system and that the "cord blood" is really baby's blood that should be in his or her body. Babies don't produce their own red blood cells for a while so it is beneficial to give them the "extra" RBC's. The only downside to delayed clamping is increased risk of jaundice. Before I read that I was planning on public banking but now I'm planning on delayed clamping.

I don't believe there is any wrong answer to this topic. Pretty sure none of us had delayed clamping. Cord blood obviously does a world of good to those who need it. It's a personal choice like oh so many other parenting dilemmas.

While I agree with a lot of what you're saying, of course baby's cord blood is baby's blood, my kidney is my kidney and belongs in me but would donate one in a second if it saved/prolonged someone's life. Just to add more perspectives to the discussion.

Yeah, I don't disagree. I just shared what swayed my opinion. Not being defensive at all. That's why I said there is no wrong choice. I'm sure the final option (don't remember if it was stated or not in OP) is to just let it be destroyed as medical waste. Choosing any option from private storage, public banking, or delayed clamping at least some one gets to use it.

Kind of like how I don't understand, aside from religious reasons, why anyone with good health would not choose to be an organ donor upon death. (Sorry if that offshoot is unrelated to the topic)

[ThePalindromicOne]

wormgerm totally didn't think you were being defensive.... it was more to stir up some other thoughts for people who might be reading...

I agree, I would hate to just destroy the cord blood and completely feel you on the organ donation bit.

[beersandweirs]

I plan to do delayed cord clamping. Unfortunately, my birth center does not offer the option of collecting for public banking, so we will not be doing that or private.

[Widget123]

wormgerm that is interesting about the jaundice- i didnt read that before. DD had jaundice among other things so now that adds to my thoughts.

[noeliav]

When we discussed the jaundice research with our OB/MWs last time, they said something like most babies have/get jaundice. It's such a common and easily remedied "problem" that they suggested we not make our cord cutting/donating/clamping/etc decision with that in mind.

We do not have a public bank here, otherwise I'd try for a combo of donating/delayed clamping.

We did delayed clamping with DD, and if all is well at delivery, that's what we'll do this time, too.

[Widget123]

My OB just cleared up my jaundice concerns with something similar to what noeliav said about your baby usually either has it or they dont. She says she doesnt advocate delayed cord clamping. She also said the public donation people usually approach mothers at our hospital but they dont come on the weekends which explains why i didnt see them when DD was born. That being said im leaning towards public donation now.

[erbear]

Donating for public use. I need to let them know it's what I want soon.

[flbabychin]

This gives me a lot to think about - I appreciate the discussion. I had thought for sure I wanted to do delayed cord clamping, but I want to talk about it more with my doctor. I really don't know much about cord banking, but it sounds like a good idea, so I'm currently undecided and wanting to decide soon.

[ombradellarosa]

We definitely cannot afford to do cord blood banking. I chose delayed cord clamping because I prefer baby to have as much blood as possible. I know they can get along fine without it and so on but it seems like it's good for them and I don't see any reason not to go for that. My second choice would be publicly donating, so if it could help someone else they can get it. But if they're going to charge me for that, forget it. I am not going to pay to give someone something. That's insane to me.

[jcprn]

I need to do more research on this but if you do delayed clamping does that mean you can't or may not be able to bank or donate?

[brennaz]

Not planning on delayed cord clamping; I was planning on doing public cord blood banking, but the hospital I'm delivering at doesn't do it, so we would have to pay for the kit & make all the arrangements, and I know realistically I will forget it when things get going.

[ombradellarosa]

Mar 10, 2015 5:46:13 GMT -5 jcprn said:

I need to do more research on this but if you do delayed clamping does that mean you can't or may not be able to bank or donate?

There are degrees of delayed clamping, so it's possible to do both, but based on what I've just read there may not be a point since it's so little blood either way. Better to pick one than to split it, in my own personal opinion.

Here is an article on this from the fabulous Meg of Lucie's List. (By the way, lucieslist.com is awesome, especially if you are trying to figure out which stroller, car seat, high chair etc etc to get.) I just re-discovered that she has a newsletter that lists all kinds of interesting topics by week of pregnancy, so I have to go catch up! Anyway, since I'm in week 28 I came across The Truth About Cord Blood Banking and I thought it would add a lot to this discussion. Warning: the top picture is of a baby's umbilical cord stump and it's kind of gross. Just so you know before you click. But I guess we'll have to get used to that eventually. Sigh.

[bigsantana5208]

Mar 9, 2015 20:00:39 GMT -5 flbabychin said:

This gives me a lot to think about - I appreciate the discussion. I had thought for sure I wanted to do delayed cord clamping, but I want to talk about it more with my doctor. I really don't know much about cord banking, but it sounds like a good idea, so I'm currently undecided and wanting to decide soon.

My wife and I had our first child this year and chose to go with CBR. We saw firsthand what it could potentially do 2 years ago when our 6 year old nephew was diagnosed with AML (cancer). Long story short, he FIRST question the doctor asked was "did you save his blood cord?". The answer was no, mainly because we didn't know about it. Fast fwd to 2015, our nephew is healthy now, but those 6 months were so hard and we said when we have our child we are saving the cord, NO MATTER WHAT!!



We went with CBR and had a great experience with our rep; he was very helpful and answered all of my questions.



There is a yearly storage fee, which is a small price to pay (in my mind). One good thing though is CBR has a referral program, if we refer someone, each of us will get 1 year storage

[bendherova]

My delivery with DS1 was much like billyhorrible's, so I'm going in with low expectations this time too.

We weren't planning on privately banking his cord blood due to the reasons mentioned by ombradellarosa and sammyca.

I believe we have access to public donation free of charge at our hospital, which I am not opposed to (we are both organ donors after all), but I need to discuss donation vs delayed clamping with DH and the doc before we decide.

[Widget123]

Apr 23, 2015 3:47:06 GMT -5 sammyca said:

bigsantana5208 I am sorry to correct you but the information you have been given about AML and cord blood transplants is incorrect. My 4 year old son is a 2 time survivor of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). He had an unrelated (ie donated) cord blood transplant in May 2013. When he was first diagnosed in 2012, my husband and I immediately thought how foolish we were to not have saved his cord blood only to be told that his cord blood contains the disease and would be completely useless (not to mention detrimental) to him. Hopefully you can read the linked article. m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/IS-IT-WORTH-BANKING-YOUR-BABY-S-CORD-BLOOD-2626771.php
I'm not saying there isn't a place for private cord blood banking (e.g. if you knew that a sibling of your child had a disorder that requires stem cell treatment) but it is very rarely useful at this point for the child whose cord it comes from. At least in Australia, if my daughter's cord blood (born during his treatment) had been a match, it would have been stored completely free of charge. Unfortunately there's a lot of misinformation out there about cord blood banking.

Big Santana only has 3 posts and they are all on different BMBs about cord blood banking, so I wouldn't be completely shocked if "she" works for a private cord blood bank and this is just some sort of ploy to encourage people to use her company.