Cord Blood collection & storage

[MrsJoJo]

Hi Ladies

I wonder if anyone could help me. I am currently 36+3 weeks pregnant and DH and I are trying to decide if we should bank the cordblood from LO - we really need to decide by Monday. I've done a search on here already and found a thread debating pros of waiting until the cord stops pulsating (which means you can't collect the blood from it doesn't it?!). I understand the benefits of this but don't know if I could forgive myself if we ever needed stem cells from treatment and we decided against it. Aside from any other ethical issues (as my medical care is all private - see below) I have another question...

DH and I live in Thailand and have the choice of two companies. One is accredited by the American 'AABB' the other the UK's 'UKAS' (it has ISO accreditation). Is one accreditation authority better than the others? Does anyone know the difference as I've been searching and can't seem to find anything that is helping me decide between the two (they charge roughly the same). Both companies ship internationally so this isn't an issue if/when we return to the UK.

Hope someone can help

Jo
x

Hi Jo!

My advice is to go for a 'natural' third stage. This means that the chord isn't clamped until is has stopped pulsating - i.e. all the blood and stem cells have been transferred to the baby. Why spend the money to collect them, when you could just let them flow naturally into the baby right at the start of its life.

Once it has stopped pulsating, they clamp and cut. You could then either wait to birth the placenta naturally - 15-60 minutes - or demand the injection afterall. If you decide you'll ask for the injection after the chord has stopped pulsating, DON'T tell them this is what you're intending - over here, they don't like mixing the 2 systems.

I hope that helps...?!

Hi all, just found this article whilst researching for blood cord banking, you should be informed before you decide for private banking:

www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/cord-blood-banking-n400561