Cord Blood Banking

Cord blood banking is a procedure that can be seen as an investment in the future of your family and yourself. After the birth of your baby, you can have the cord blood from the umbilical cord and the placenta saved for use by your child or by another member of your family in the future. The cord blood can also be donated for use by other compatible people that may need the valuable stem cells from the cord blood in the future. In many circumstances, the cord blood and life-saving stem cells from the umbilical cord and placenta are discarded following the birth of a baby. However, increased awareness has seen a dramatic rise in the number of new parents wanting to preserve this blood.

The preservation of cord blood is done through a cord blood bank, and the procedure of cord blood banking is made as simple as possible. Once you have made your decision to preserve your baby’s cord blood, you will need to find a cord blood bank to assist in the collection of the cord blood. There are a number of cord blood banks around and the number of blood bank facilities is rising as interest and awareness about cord blood and its benefits increases. In order to find a suitable blood bank you should do a little research or speak to relations, friends, or colleagues that may have used this type of facility.

It is advisable to find a suitable cord blood banking facility by around the second trimester, as this will enable you to prepare in plenty of time and get yourself organized in time for the birth. In order to help you find the most suitable blood banking facility, you should make a list of several in which you are interested. You can then look further into each of these to see which one is most suitable.

There are a number of factors you should look at when making your decision about the best suited cord blood banking facility. You should look at the success rate of transplants that have been performed using the cord blood that was collected and stored by each of the facilities you are looking into. You also need to look into the costs of storage per year, as well as any enrolment and other fees that may be charged by the blood banking facilities. It is also worth looking into how the blood is stored – for instance, storing the cord blood separately from other samples at the facility will help to decrease the chances of damage through exposure to temperate fluctuations.

Your chosen blood banking facility will initiate the process by sending out a collection kit to you ready for the birth. This kit needs to be taken with you to the hospital where you plan to have your baby. You should make sure that you discuss your intentions for cord blood preservation fully with the doctor or nurse at the hospital well before the birth, as they will need to ensure that a fully trained and experienced member of staff is at hand to collect the blood. Most cord blood banking facilities can also arrange a courier to collect the blood from the hospital following the birth, so this is something else you should look into and organize.

It is worth noting that if you are donating your baby’s cord blood rather than preserving it for use exclusively by family members, there is no charge for collection, enrolment, or storage. If you are having the cord blood preserved for your own and your family’s use, then there are charges for collection, enrolment and storage. These can vary from one cord blood bank to another, so it is worth ringing around to see which will work out most cost effective. The difference between costs from one blood bank facility to another can be dramatic, ranging from several hundred dollars to several thousand – so a little research could save you a great deal of cash. This is not to say that the cheapest cord blood bank will necessarily be the best one, and The Cord Blood Donor Foundation have expressed concerns about the possibility of the far cheaper banks cutting corners in order to be able to offer the lower rates.