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Is anyone going to do cord banking? Did any of you do it? Why or why not?

jwcft1
0 Recommendations

Hi,

I have been on hospital bedrest (expecting BG twins) since 21 weeks and I am now 27. I have IC and preterm labor. I have 2 other children at home who are 3 and 5. Their pregnancies were a walk in a park compared to this one :/

I am wondering if anyone is planning to do, or did, cord blood banking. Since the chances of the twins coming early is VERY high, is this something that could possibly help us in the NICU later down the road?

What are your opinions? The cost is high but if it is something that could really make a difference I am willing to try to find the money somewhere (in this economy who knows where I will find it).

Thanks!

Lee

Explore topics in this discussion:

Aplastic anemia Anemia Bone marrow transplant

7 replies

mygirlsmom

I really considered it, but btw., the initial cost, and the yearly maintenance fee, we just couldn't swing it. I went into preterm at 26, and we really thought about it, but didn't do it. I think it can be useful for certain cancers, but I don't know about how it can be used for birth defects - definitely something to ask the neonat. on staff?

AnnieB312

Hi Lee --

A friend's daughter got sick with aplastic anemia, a rare blood disease, and used her own cord blood for a bone marrow transplant. She was fine for about 18 months before she relapsed. However, by that time she was old enough for other treatment options; the cord blood had given that time.

I did not bank the daughter's cord blood who was born before this all happened, but I did bank my babies' cord blood later.

Annie

Chocoholix

They can't transfuse the blood to the babies in case they need a transfusion if that's what you are asking. They will harvest the stem cells and then use them in certain cases of cancers and some other diseases when a bone marrow transplant is recommended.

You can't use the blood from one of the babies for the other (I had twins too and I asked). The cost was pretty high for us, there was no guarantee that enough stem cells would be rescued (there is always that chance). If not enough were rescued, we would only be charged the initial fee (for twins it was something like $800 at the time) but then have nothing to show for so that would be $800 down the drain.

These companies are private, they do say IF they go out of business, they will transfer the stem cells to another company etc.
Also there are certain limitations to stem cells, for instance they can only be preserved for 15 years, the individual receiving them mustn't weigh more than 40 kilos at the time and it's a one shot thing.

All these plus the big price tag, made us not do it... they are still developing the technology and it's promising but at the time we just couldn't afford because of the many "If's" involved and no real guarantees for something SO expensive.
Just my 2 cents :)

I would contact the company directly (there are several) and ask specific questions before deciding.

quadmomma

We too thought about cord blood banking. After talking to my OB & perinatologist, they both made us feel like (from a standpoint of drs) its not worth it. They explained the chances that we would actually use it were very slim AND we would have to pay separatley for each baby... that wasn't gonna happen. My babies were born at 28.6 weeks and dealt with some major stuff in NICU. At the time I wished we would have done it, not that it would have helped in our situation at the time, i just thought what will the future hold for these babies and what will they face long term (holy run-on sentence i know!).

If we had the money, we would have done it that's for sure. You never know what the CB will be able to do years from now. Just my two cents!

Good Luck in your decision!

Brayden123

We did do the cord blood banking! My personal reasons for choosing revolve around my profession (pediatric intensive care nurse). I have seen such tragedy and miracles happen where i work. If there was a one in a million chance I would need the cordblood then i had to do it. Someone always wins the lottery and never thinks it will be them. Superstitious i guess. There are two main companies that I researched and we ended up going with CBR! Good luck and best wishes!!

katek

I wish we had done it. Our son's emergency birth resulted in no one asking us about the core blood banking! I definitely would have done it had we been given the opportunity.

Best wishes.

elizagracesmom

I had planned to do it and the kit was in the operating room during my c-section, but there wasn't enough cord blood for them to collect for banking. I had been in the hospital for about a month before Eliza was delivered so was able to plan for cord blood banking, it just didn't work out for us.

Anne, mom to Eliza Grace
3/15/06 26w 4d 575gr

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