Has anyone or are they planning to store cord blood/stem cells ?

[MillyMollyMoo]

I just wondered how much it cost, I received a flyer today which was very interesting.

We were until we discovered how much hassle was involved....have to have a phlebotomist on call to come & collect blood....etc as well as the cost (£1.5K)...
Anthony Nolan Trust have set something up which won't fleece you like these companies will

here

Really that's interesting my mum is a phlibotomist although I can't say I relish the idea of her being at the birth

It was a bit before it all took off, but I worked in a lab at the time which worked with stem cells, so my boss suggested that we "bung some in the freezer". We put a kit together with instructions for me to take with me, and the midwives took the blood and stored the cord for us. DH met up with one of my work colleagues a few hours later and they went off to our lab (it was a little weird to find out later that everyone at work went along to have a look at my cord and remark on it!).

When I discussed it prior to the birth, my mw wrote a disclaimer note to the effect that they were not accountable for the quality of the blood/ cells obtained, but were otherwise perfectly happy to do it, and on the night the mws seemed really interested and pleased to be doing it, I can remember trying to block out the birth by giving them a huge lecture on stem cells

Probably rightly so, the rules are tightening up now to protect people who are paying a lot of money for this service.

Clamping the cord immediately the baby's born is standard practice in the UK - but there's a strong view that delaying cord clamping a little can have big benefits for the baby. Please have a read up on delayed cord clamping (thought to have immediate and ongoing benefits for the baby) before you decide to store stem cells.

Tangle there always seems to be a downside/price to pay with these things. It's the whole siblings being helped too that appeals, I guess the more kids you have the more chance of something going wrong there is so the more insurance you'd like where possible.

Oh I know, nothing in parenting is ever easy is it? Sorry if you've already read up on it all already. There just seem to be so many people who think there are only two options for cord blood - storing it or binning it - and letting the baby have it now hasn't even crossed their radar.

Although there's a growing body of research on the potential uses of cord stem cells, I haven't seen any research on health benefits/costs to the baby in the short, medium or long term for immediate vs. delayed cord clamping. I have seen estimates suggesting anywhere between 20 and 60% of the blood volume in the baby/cord/placenta can be retained in the cord/placenta if the cord is clamped immediately after birth. Intuitively to me there must be some health implications for the baby from that - but what they might be and when they will manifest I haven't a clue.

Everyone has to make the best decision they can for their family with the information available. As you've probably guessed (), for us with DC1 that was delayed cord clamping - but I fully accept that the "right" answer is different for everyone, and might well be different for us with another DC. Good luck

Ah no I hadn't research it at that point, so it's basically just waiting for the cord to stop pulsating before cutting it is that correct ? We did that with DD3 so hopefully she benefited from it.
I can see my birth plan needs some work.