https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 23 Apr 2026 20:29:26 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-40798 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:23:43 +0000 banana 40798@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ecogirl: Yes, we hope we never need it. But in case we ever do, I'll feel better knowing we have that option. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-40725 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:30:45 +0000 ecogirl 40725@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Banana it really is my pleasure! I'm so happy that my information helped. It really is a very amazing thing. My old college friend just had a baby and even though she and her husband are struggling financially they canceled cable to pay for the banked cord blood. She is a doctor too if that makes you feel any better about your decision! I hope you will never need it but I'm glad you will have it :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-40658 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:22:51 +0000 banana 40658@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ecogirl: Thanks for the info! We asked our OB and Pediatrician if they would recommend banking the cord blood and they both said the same thing. "If it weren't so expensive, I would push all my patients to bank.". They both banked their childrens' cord blood too. So I figured they must know something I don't! :) In the grand scheme of things, it's really not that expensive for something so important. Thanks for the info. We'll be banking baby #2's cord blood too. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-40263 Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:45:42 +0000 ecogirl 40263@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Banana My pleasure! When cancer strikes chemo is often used for treatment. With chemo good cells are killed along with bad. Getting a stem cell transplant can regrow those good cells. It has been shown that when your own stem cells are used survival rates double. You also have a smaller chance of your body rejecting cells that come from your own cord blood. They are also used to grow new blood cells around damaged tissues and blocked arteries of the heart from heart attacks and coronary disease. We've been seeing a lot of labs successfully grow nerve cells from stem cells which would vastly improve the lives of people with neurological disease. They have even used them after traumatic brain injuries to grow new cells in the brain and improve functionality. It really is quite amazing. Also, if someone in your family that doesn't have banked blood finds themselves in the position to need them the success rates of treatment improve greatly when those stem cells are donated by the patients family. If you were to need them for example, you could use the banked cord blood of your son and statistically fare much better than other donor cells. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-40256 Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:31:36 +0000 banana 40256@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ecogirl: Since you were an oncology resident, I was just wondering what benefits you've seen with cord blood? We haven't heard much about cord blood being used (in the media) so wasn't sure how beneficial and widely used it is. We banked our son's cord blood and was thinking about doing the same with baby #2. Any insight from you would be great! Thanks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28927 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:23:00 +0000 owlmom 28927@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We donated. My father died of leukemia when I was 3 and his brother died of childhood leukemia, so I did a lot of research about banking, and ultimately decided to donate for the same reasons cited by @mamadopt. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28911 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:34:15 +0000 ecogirl 28911@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We banked and will bank the new babies cord blood. I was an oncology resident and have seen the miracle that cord blood can give. It's really quite amazing! I thought it was a more important investment than a college fund honestly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28908 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:26:09 +0000 MaisyMay 28908@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I imagine that I'll donate mine. I've heard that the banking can be expensive and still potentially unuseful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28906 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:19:10 +0000 L2sweetpea 28906@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blushink: wow it's amazing how different it is. Ours was an anonymous donation for research purposes. The hospital only donated to this one cause. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28826 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:56:54 +0000 Mrs. Sunglasses 28826@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@L2sweetpea: Well for us, they needed to verify family background and I had a 4 page document to fill out. Then I had someone call me for additional information. I'm sure it's different from one place to another. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28824 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:54:52 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 28824@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We donated. I wrote a detailed post somewhere about the pros and cons of banking vs donating... which falls heavily on the side of donating. </p> <p>The policy of the American Academy of Pediatrics policy states that "private storage of cord blood as 'biological insurance' is unwise" unless there is a family member with a current or potential need to undergo a stem cell transplantation.[2]</p> <p>Similarly, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not recommend private cord blood banking.</p> <p>Using one's own cord blood cells might not be wise or effective, especially in cases of childhood cancers and leukemia. Children who develop an immunological disorder often are unable to use their own cord blood for transplant because the blood also contains the same genetic defect. </p> <p>Nearly all of the transplants using privately banked cord blood have gone to relatives with pre-existing conditions, not to the donors. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28813 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:47:49 +0000 lemondrop 28813@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We were planning to do a public donation, but hopefully they don't hold us to the time limit and I am 34 weeks right now. I was planning to talk with my doctor at my next appointment to look at the options. I had absolutely no idea that there were timing restrictions. Hopefully they still let us donate, otherwise I guess we will do delayed clamping. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28804 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:43:17 +0000 banana 28804@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We banked because my husband's father and cousin both had cancer so we didn't want to take any chances. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28787 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:30:39 +0000 chopsuey 28787@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We didn't bank. I'm actually not sure what happened to it? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28775 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:19:32 +0000 tequiero21 28775@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i'm leaning towards banking. want to talk to my doctor more about this though.</p> <p>i think it could be beneficial since we're having fraternal twins. and if they need each other's cords, they'd have it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28772 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:16:02 +0000 L2sweetpea 28772@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blushink: We didn't need to fill out paperwork that early. My doc asked me the day of my c-section if I wanted to donate and I signed a form then. It probably varies hospital to hospital. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28753 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:54:44 +0000 ALittleP 28753@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think we'll donate it as the cost is probably out of our range... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28723 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:23:41 +0000 amy 28723@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I chose to bank. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28699 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:03:07 +0000 looch 28699@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Neither, because we did delayed cord clamping. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28676 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:36:56 +0000 plantains 28676@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Donate. I work in Life Sciences and I'm pretty passionate about donating vs banking. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28669 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:25:37 +0000 Rosie Girl 28669@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just looked up donation in my state, and there is only 1 hospital (not even close to us) that donates. So I guess I can't.</p> <p><a href="http://marrow.org/Get_Involved/Donate_Cord_Blood/How_to_Donate/How_to_Donate.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://marrow.org/Get_Involved/Donate_Cord_Blood/How_to_Donate/How_to_Donate.aspx</a></p> <p><a href="http://marrow.org/Get_Involved/Donate_Cord_Blood/How_to_Donate/Where_to_Donate.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://marrow.org/Get_Involved/Donate_Cord_Blood/How_to_Donate/Where_to_Donate.aspx</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28667 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:19:58 +0000 venice4504 28667@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We donated. Having Fred Hutch in Seattle we knew it was going to a good cause. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28664 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:17:54 +0000 Rosie Girl 28664@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't ever remember even having an option! Do they just automatically donate if you don't bank? We won't bank, but I would donate if they asked..... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28624 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:31:54 +0000 SAHM0811 28624@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We donated </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28571 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:40:13 +0000 junebugmama 28571@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am banking. I'm a cancer survivor. So I have a couple reasons. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28570 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:38:46 +0000 heffalump 28570@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blushink: Thanks! I wonder if mine doesn't b/c I feel like I would have heard about it. Either way, I'll def be looking into it for next time! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28567 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:36:58 +0000 Mrs. Sunglasses 28567@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@artbee: I know alot of hospitals in the states don't participate in the program, but you need to fill out paperwork around 26 weeks or so. If you are interested. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28561 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:31:04 +0000 heffalump 28561@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My hubby works for a blood bank and he talked to some people there who said that it wasn't worth it to bank it. I still would have liked to if we could afford it, but we can't, so we didn't really have a choice either way.</p> <p>I didn't even know about donating. I'll look into that with my next! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28560 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:28:57 +0000 L2sweetpea 28560@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We donated. My brother banked. I find banking too expensive </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/cord-blood-bank-or-donate#post-28551 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:25:20 +0000 Mrs. Sunglasses 28551@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was wondering if you opted or will opt to bank it or donate it? I personally didn't know I could bank it and even if I knew the prices were way out of line for me to even consider. Plus the chances that we need it are rather slim and in comparison to price it would be a no-go. </p> <p>I did donate it though. I know here in Quebec we have a non-profit organization that collect all the blood for the province and they are the ones that send along the info and contacted me to see if I was eligible to donate. I even had someone contact me weeks after I gave birth to tell me that they were able to get alot from my cord and that I was a perfect donor. </p> <p>Seeing I'm pro blood giving but haven't been able to the last couple of years, this was my way to make it up. Cord blood has precious blood cells and I wanted to maybe help someone in the future. I will be donating my cord blood again for bébé 2.</p> <p>Will you Bank it or donate it? </p>