Umbilical Cord Blood Bank

Has anyone done cord blood banking for their newborn?

I'm in Canada and I'm on my 3rd baby. I never really thought about it before but this one could be our last and I figure that one is good because that way we have some for our children if anything ever went wrong. I know they may not match, but I'm just interested in any opinions, stories or knowledge and advice on the topic. Are you for or against, why or why not? Have you done it? Why or why not? Thank you.

Public Comments

1. i am goint to do it once my baby is born for the reason if he gets sick they can use the blood my sister did it for the same reason with all her kids
2. I am for it. Done correctly there is no risk to mother or child during collection. Currently, cord blood can treat 80 diseases including some cancers. Most recently, transfusions with their own cord blood has reversed signs of cerebral palsy in some patients. That's AMAZING. While cord blood can be a wonderful resource for anyone in your family, it's most easily used for the person it was collected from, a simple transfusion. For relatives who qualify for its use, you need ICU stays and anti rejection drugs, for them it's just as dangerous as a transplant. I banked my daughter's cord blood back in 2007. We used Viacord. It was the most expensive company that did it at the time and also the longest running. I like how they do research in addition to banking. I get updates monthly and am very glad I did it. I will do it for every child I have. You do need a very knowledgable Dr to do the collection, they prefer a significant amount and the better and more experienced the Dr, the better odds that you'll have a good specimen.