Storing your cord blood- anyone considering this?

[missslc]

Just wondered if anyone is doing this or considering it? I have looked into it and it isn't cheap but then if you really needed it, it would be the best money you had ever spent.

£900 one off charge then £1o a month ongoing storage fee.

It is just a case of weighing it up- you hope you would never need it but I know it has saved the lives of some kids who have gone on to develop certain illnesses.

What does everyone think?

A couple of doctor friends of mine have done it I think it's a good idea but can't afford it myself. You should consult your hospital thoughmy local one has recently become quite skittish about it for some reason-- my sil who's currently pregnant has done it there before but they are throwing up all sorts of objections this time around. In the past I think one of the midwives did the collection but now she has to find someone else (with a medical background) to do it.

We were thinking of doing it but then decided not to because:

• expensive

• didn't want another person in delivery room (hospital wouldn't do it) and seem a hassle to have them on stand-by

• from what I understand it still can't be used for THAT many things

• can only be stored for 25 years but possibly longer (?)

• can only be used for the child, not for parents or siblings

My memory of us investigating this is slightly hazy so forgive me if I'm wrong on any of the above.

Thanks

Apparently it can be used for siblings and possibly other family members- in fact more chance it will be of use to them than the actual child it is taken from- well the cord.

You do not have to have someone in the room here- medical courier picks it up and takes it to storage facility.

It is an expense but just trying to decide if it is a worthwhile expense. you can pay over 4 years for the initial cost via the company i have investigated.

You do have to get the hospital to agree to allow the midwife to take the blood from the cord though-- that's what my sil is having trouble with now.

Annamama: you say:
'can only be stored for 25 years but possibly longer'

I don't think there is any evidence for this. The techniques have certainly not been around for 25 years so they really don't know what the quality of the stam cells will be after 25 years!

All a total con IMO.

I would rather donate cord blood to be used for anyone who needs it, just like when you donate blood.

Hospitas have to be licensed to allow them to extract cord blood so you would have to check if the one you plan to birth at are allowed to.
good idea though.

Its a very personal decision. DH and I chose to have a physiological 3rd stage with delayed cord clamping - so by the time the cord was clamped the blood was in our new DD (where we felt there was a very high chance it would be immediately useful) and there wouldn't have been anything left to collect.

If we had a close family member that stood to benefit from a stem cell treatment, or our family was at high risk of some of the conditions that can be treated in this way then we would have been far more inclined to have the cord blood collected.

If I had to have a managed 3rd stage and the hospital we were at could do it we'd have the cord blood taken for a bank.

After thinking about it a lot we felt that, given we had no increased risk factors that made us likely to need it, it was too expensive for the benefits that we were very unlikely to use.