*anyone considering Stem Cell storage - or ever heard of it?*

[lenaschildminding]

Hi, I'm expecting my third child, due in September. It's a strange, almost significant due date as it is close to my first son's birthday and anniversary. Sadly, I lost him to a terrible illness called Neuroblastoma, the day after his 5th birthday, 4 years ago this year. Due to this, I have been looking into Stem Cell storage, heaven forbid anything like this would ever happen again, we would then have an exact match for a stem cell (bone marrow) transplant.

Has anyone else considered, researched or even taken up this procedure? All it involves is extracting cord blood from the umbilical cord after delivery and shipping it off to a storage unit, where it is processed and stored for 25 years or until needed. It is totally harmless to mum and baby, it is pricey, but what price can you put on your childs life? It can be used in treatment for many cancers, blood disorders and research is being done into treatment for Parkinsons, Diabetes, Arthritis and other more common problems.

Any views please.....

I would do it in an instant if I were you and had gone through what you had gone through.

Hi lenaschildminding

Very sorry to hear of your terrible loss. Congratulations on your forthcoming baby.

I must say that stem cell storage isn't something I've given any thought to at all, but in your situation I wouldn't hesitate. I hope the cost is not prohibitive. Although it's extremely unlikely that you'll need it, you might want to give a moment to think how you'll feel if you don't do it. If you decide against, you might spend your baby's early years worrying, whereas if you do it you can relax and enjoy your baby, knowing that you've done everything you can.

Hope all goes well for you.

Hi Lenaschildminding,
I have been looking into this and I have not been through any of the pain you have.

There was a recent article in the Sunday Times about patients at the private Portland hospital in London being offered it. You seem clued up on the details, so the only things I was going to check was how my local hospital would deal with it. There seems to be a sterile pack you put in your hospital bag that the midwife uses to collect the cord blood, so I wanted to make sure they were happy to do that. Not sure would trust DH with that!. I also read the longest cells have lasted was about 28 years so although the chances of needing the blood are thankfully teeny tiny, it makes me wonder whether the more common problems like parkinsons and arthritis would be detected in the first 25 years. But as you say they are still researchin gth emore common problems.

I am going to do it I think. It is a bit like insurance , but frankly I pay so much for holiday, car, house insurance, this looks like it works out quite reasonably over 25 years. and if my holiday was rubbish I might be peeved but not as completely devastated as if my child or their siblings fell ill and I had known about a possible way of helping them...

Dog mum nailed it though. It means you've done all you can and can just enjoy the baby.

I did it with Future Health and it was all very easy. Hopefully we will never need it but nice to know we have done it.

There are two different collection methods. We were told by our doula with ds that the "bag" method was simplest and got the most. Each of the nurses would review the instructions when she came on duty (I had a very looong labour). This time around it's a scheduled section so we will just make sure going into the OR that someone has taken responsibility for doing the collection. From what I understand, it is still done infrequently enough that a lot of hospital personnel are not familiar with it, but it is easy enough to do once you review the kit. I have never regretted doing it for ds and will absolutely do it again with this baby.

Does anyone know how much it costs roughly?

Here in the US it can vary. Most companies are private and the cost runs about $1500 initially and then about $100/year. But, we found a publicly traded company and the cost was about $750 for the setup. Yearly maintenance is the same. So, it really does pay to shop around. Our facility has two different storage sites and offers all the same services as the private ones.

I used Smart Cells - ( we were unable to get the stem cells in the end ),\link{http://smartcells.com\here} and they have an inital charge of about £150 and then a storage charge of about £1500 - I would do it again with any future children - I mean, there is no downside to doing this apart from the financial cost -

Have decided to go with Smart Cells, I've paid an initial deposit (reduced rate of £50, normally £75) and the balance of £1200 is due once the cells have sucessfully been collected and stored. If the collection doesn't happen for any reason or storage goes wrong, you don't have to pay the remaining balance. The unit is based in Plymouth, the collection kit is very straight forward, my midwife looked at it and said it's the same precedure they use for resus negative mums, so all the doctors and midwives will know exactly how to do it. You are given a temperature controlled packaging box to send it off in and it's collected by DHL, all paid for. All you have to do is remember the collection kit in your hospital bag and have someone to call DHL for you to come and get it. Smart Cells policy is that once the child is 18, it is then up to them what happens to the cells. After the 25 year period, if they have not needed the cells, there are options. 1) donate the cells, either to a needy recipient or to further research. 2) pay additional storage fees and keep the cells longer (if they have found this is possible). It seemed a good deal to go with, especially knowing they want little money up front and there are no annual fees for storage. The price you see is the price you pay for 25 years peace of mind.

Please look at my appeal for help in the childminders, nannie, au pairs section...

Thank you.