Cord Blood - Fair Lawn, NJ

D.:

Like you I am a first time mom due in January 17th and have the same question. I have been discussing this back and forth with my hubby. The way we see it is that it is a nice to have this kind of insurance if you have the money. If you look at it, it is about 1700 - 1800 one time fee and then about 150/yr. The 150/yr is not that much of problem we pay more for cable and cell phone it is the first time fee which we are struggling with; thanks God we don't have any bad health history in our families. You are certainly not a bad mom if you decide not to, like I said we are still thinking about it and we don't feel we are bad parents. The one thing we know for sure is that if we decide not to store our baby's cord blood for ourselves then we will donate it and have someone else benefit from it. Also Lifebank of America has a promotion that if you refer someone and they do this you and the friend you refered will get 1 yr of free storage and you can refer as many people as you want. Hope this helps.

O.

D.,

I banked my son Nicholas' Cord Blood and I am glad I did. I used CBR, they were awesome. I spoke to a woman named Shannon, and she answered all of my questions. I think I have referral cards that give you a discount if you use them. Let me know if you are interested. Call around.... the representatives take time and will explain everything to you. I really believe its worth the money, I hope I never need it, but it's there in case

S.

Both of my OB's made it clear they thought it was a waste of money. The chances of needing the cord blood are very slim, and they don't really know how long the cord blood will be "good" even if it's saved. A better idea is to donate the cord blood, which can be used for research or whatever, free of charge to you.

I didnt do it, mainly cause when i was pregnant it was just starting to be advertised in magazines and stuff. But i did ask my OB about it and he said that i could do what i wanted, but the chances the baby would need it were slim, cause i guess the stem cells would only help with certin illnesses & the chances of my baby having it wernt very good.

I did not purchase it when my son was born over 4 years ago, but we looked into donating it, and were told that there were no opportunites to donate cord blood, as there are no adequate storage facilities for donated blood. What a shame--I would gladly have donated, and would love to see a cord blood bank established in the area for anyone who needs it to access. If this is such a valuable resource, and can do so much good for so many people, why is there no way to store it, unless you pay for a private storage facility?

Hi D.-
This is definitely a choice to think about. I did not do this with my son, but wish I had. Unfortunately, it is quite expensive to store. It would be wonderful to know that the stem cells could be used as possible cures for diseases. If you have the financial means, it seems to be in no way a bad thing to do.

I just had my first son in July and it seemed that there was information everywhere I turned about banking cord blood. We decided against it, but I had the very same feelings you did, like there was something wrong with you if you didn't. I'm sure it's a wonderful thing if you have some history of serious genetic problems, but the odds of needing the cord blood are so low, I didn't find that it would be worth the expense. Even though there is so much information about it, I don't find that it's as common practice as you might think from reading the information and hearing the ads. Good luck with your delivery and the rest of your pregnancy!

That's what the advertisers WANT you to do - feel bad and cough up thousands.

Ignore it!

Hi D.,

I did store my baby's cord blood and am glad I did. I researched it on my own and then we came to the decision that paying a storage fee of just over $100.00 per year was not that expensive of a price to pay for health security for our child and our family. Someone asked earlier if it can be used for anyone in the family and the truth is that cord blood is a way better match than bone marrow, however like anything else, the chances are always higher of it being a match with the closest family members such as direct siblings, etc. The further out you get in your family line the lower the chances, but there is still possibility. I would encourage you to speak to an expert that can answer all your questions and give you free information. You can call 1-888-758-5115 to speak to a trained educator (mention MC#1158). I have become so pationate about this that I have become an advocate for the issue and I volunteer by speaking at events to educate parents on the benefits and availability of this. Lastly, I will tell you what I tell all the expecting parents I meet, Ultimatly the choice is yours and you may or may not see the benefit of doing this, but I personnaly would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Let me know what you find during your research or let me know if you have any questions.

I had not really heard about this with my first (she is almost 9 now) and with my second, I looked into it, but no way could we afford to bank it. I asked my OB if I could donate my daughter's cord blood, and she very politely told me that 'The Hospitals in this area are not able to do that at this time'I guess that is what I get for living in a small town. I personally have never heard of any child's life saved from cord blood banking or donation except for advertisements and commercials, but again, I live in a smaller country town. I would love to hear if this is something that actually saves lives.

I did not store it with my first and second children. I did not know about it. After I had my second child I was told I have cancer. I was one of the luck one's and 7 years later, am cancer free. Two years ago I had another child (suprise!!) and definately banked the cord blood. If that happened to any of my children and the cord blood could have given them a chance,I'd have regretted not saving it. So, I did. But my circumstances were different than yours. It's something to think about.

I'm kinda wondering about that, too. I never did it yet, but thought, can it be used by ANY member of my family should they need it? Or can it just be used by the baby at hand? If anyone in my family could benefit from it I think I'd consider it if we can wing it financially. I think though if it could truly be a benefit down the road sometime I'd kick myself in the head if I don't do it while I have the chance, right?

I didn't do it with either of my 3 children. We were going to do it with our last, but my OB said that it actually can't be used for the baby whose cord blood it is in many situations, beacause say that baby has leukimia, then the cord blood is tainted and can not be used for any child. Also, it is not always guaranteed that the cord blood would be a match to siblings or other family members. I think it is quite costly. My 3rd baby's cord blood was donated instead. If you are able to afford it, you might as well do it, but if it becomes a financial strain, I wouldn't.
Good luck :)! -P.

My first child is 14 months old now. I did not bank her cord blood and I have no regrets.

I donated my daughter's cord blood. It was easy and it made me feel good. I wish this option was more widely advertised. If we all did it then no one would really need to pay for private banking.

I didn't with either of mine. I kept wanting to research it but just never had the chance. If I did do anything I would have donated it, I don't think I could afford to keep it somewhere. Everyone I talked with that looked into it said it was really expensive. I think there are pros and cons and its a personal choice. You could always try to discuss it w/your OBGYN and see how they feel. Good luck

Hi D., Congratulations on your upcoming arrival. There are so many decisions to make as a new parent. I am sure that you are realizing already that it is very hard to sort out all of the recommendations from the many people willing to hand out advice. This is a very important topic though.

I am a mother of three children and nine neices and nephews. Neither I, nor my sister, nor my three sisters-in law banked our childrens cord blood and now regret it terribly. Our children range in age from 2 to 15 years old. At the time, our doctors were all saying that the chance that our children might need it were so minimal and the price high that we shouldn't worry about it.

My 7 year old neice was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two years ago. My sister is devestated that one of the potential cures that they are so close to finding involves the cord blood that we did not bank. I also now know that my children are at high risk for diabetes and I will have no cord blood either should they need it. There are so many other diseases that they feel cord blood may someday hold the answer to. We ALL wish so badly that we had done the banking because you just never know. It is almost like purchasing an insurance policy for the future of your child.

I am not one to dish out opinions lightly. I just wish that someone had opened my eyes to the importance of this decision. My neices cord blood would be gold for us now.

I just want to add that there is was no history of any type of illness in our very large family and yet here we are.

My husband and I could not afford to store ours. But with the first we did donate it. It was kind of a hassle so with the other two I never got around to it but I'm glad we did for the first. But if you can't affors it you should look into donating...

D.,
I did not do the cord blood banking either, it is a selfish reason I guess you could say, but it is just too darn expensive. There's the initial gathering and then there are the monthly/yearly costs to store it and we just don't have that kind of money. I also did not get it done b/c we do not have any life threatening ailments in our families. Howevere if you do have say cancer or diabetes, etc stuff to that effect running in your family, you might want to consider banking b/c it MAY one day help. Good Luck.

D.,
Don't feel bad. I didn't do it for either of my children. It's still a really new thing, & I didn't feel that there were enough solid facts & statistics for me to go ahead and do that. I think in a few years it is going to be a decision that carry's as much weight as breastfeeding. Your not a bad mom if you don't do it. Do what you feel is right for you & your family & don't let others pressure you. Congratulations on your baby & good luck!
J.

I could not afford to bank our son's blood, so we donated it. I figured if we could not save it for him, maybe it could save someone else.

N.

Yes, we did a cord blood donation with my second daughter last December through ViaCord. I was very happy with the way it was handled & I would recommend them. It seems a very cheap biological "insurance policy" and these cells have so much promise for curing diseases. I thought it was the right choice given our family history, especially as it regards leukemia...
I can send you a lin to them if you are interested.

I have had two children and the oldest with brain cancer we have donated the cord blood to banks but if would have helped my oldest son I would have kept it. So I am all for either keeping or donating (we donated because of money) but now that we are in this situtation and see all the sick kids that can be helped by this I am all for it. But just do whatever you think is right for you and your family.

A.
www.christianshowers.blogspot.com

It can be very expensive. However if you feel the need to do something there are places that take donated stem cells for the same reason and you don't have to pay for storage. You just have to pay for the collection. These donated banks are available for people to use for the same purpose as what your storing it for. This way if you ever need it you can get it from the donation bank, but hopefully you'll never need it.

When I was pregnant, I asked my Dr. about it. He told me that he would not recommend it unless there was a history of a disease or medical problems in my family. He said otherwise it is very expensive and not worth it. Since we do not have a history of medical illness in either of our families, we did not bank the cord blood. Hope this helps.