Umbilical Cord Bank

[Furmummy]

Just wondering if anyone has considered or looked into this? Curious as considering it and wondered what people’s thoughts were - Thanks

Hello, yes, we did it twice. The general NHS one. I think there are also private options where you bank it for your family to use if needed. We thought it was a great idea and were v keen to participate to help someone else if we could.

Yes I signed up for this twice when I gave birth in london. I think the second time the time I gave birth meant they couldn't take the donation but the first time they did (possibly only had a collection team available during the day not at night?). One of my sisters had leukaemia and it was important to me to donate if possible.

I'm pregnant again now but in Paris and haven't seen this mentioned. I'm booked to give birth at a big teaching hospital though so I'm going to ask.

Thank you both for your replies .. @kalidasa sorry to hear your sister had leukaemia, I also had a close family member who had it which has made me want to look into this further.

I need to look into it as option for banking for if could help baby in the future if ever became sick, or if could donate to help other people.

I don’t know much about it but I will speak to my midwife to see options in my area.

You can find out some details here:
www.anthonynolan.org/help-save-a-life/donate-your-umbilical-cord
I did it with my first and hope to again with my second. Like others, know someone living with leukaemia, but really, I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t do this really. It really doesn’t affect you as a mum, it happens with you barely realising and what else are you going to do with your umbilical cord? And it does feel good to know that you’ve potentially made a very significant difference in someone’s life.
I think that banking for personal use is more common in America and I have a friend who has done it there. But unless you have a particularly difficult to match blood or genetic make up (I’m not medical but not sure if this is important like it is for blood donors) or have a family history of conditions that make it likely that they’d need it, I think taking your chances with the NHS is probably a sensible course. But it’s for you to decide knowing your own baby’s health and your own financial restrictions.
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and beyond.

I'm doing cord tissue and blood banking privately

Using Cells4Life

I looked into both private and NHS donation. NHS donation can only be done at a very limited number of London (or London ish) hospitals which is a shame as I'd happily have donated and private is serious money for initial donation plus annual storage costs. Worth noting that whilst the cells might help a sibling or a stranger, my understanding is they won't be used for that child.

I'm looking into private banking at Cells4life but havent made up my mind yet