Are you going to donate your baby's cord blood?

Question

Today my best friend asked me if I'm going to, and to be quite honest, I had never even heard of it until just now..

I guess it's when you have the baby, you can either choose for the hospital to throw away the after birth or you can tell them to keep it to use it for stem cell research, or something.

If I have this all wrong, feel free to correct me. :)

What are your views on this? Would you do it? Have you done it?

Answer 1

I've never heard of this before but I would probably do it when I'm older and have kids of my own.

Answer 2

I am pretty sure we are going to do the Via Cord program, or a similar one. They store your baby's cord blood in case you need it at a later time due to (god forbid) some type of medical issue. I know that you can also choose to donate the cord for stem cell research or have the hospital dispose of it, you just have to sign a form for the donation option.  

Answer 3

I know that there is a way to donate the cord blood but I'm not sure how it works. I might look into it this time because if it could help them find a cure for something, why not?

But many people actually choose to KEEP the cord blood. You can pay to have it collected and stored and the stem cells can be used in the future for anyone in your family who might come down with a disease like leukemia or something.

I would totally keep the cord blood but the storage fees are pretty steep and we can't afford it.  

Answer 4

I have thought about it.

I has a cost involved to it.  It can range anywhere from $1500-$3000 dollars and then you have to pay a yearly fee to keep it banked.  The yearly fee is about $250.

Its still pretty new.  Ask your doctor their thoughts on it.

Answer 5

Yes, we are. They keep the stem cells and blood in the umbilical cord. My sister donated her daughters 4 years ago and had a phone call from the hospital last week telling her that it was a perfect match for a little boy with leukemea and asking her if she minded if they used the stem cells and if she would mind coming in and donating some blood (my sister not my neice). My sister donated 6 vials of blood and the stem cells and feels like she's managed to help the family and feels wonderful about it. Just think that she may have saved that little boys life.

Its free to donate the cord. If you want to store it for your own use, that's when you pay.

Answer 6

im considering storing the cord blood, but i havnt heard of donating it.  

Answer 7

It has something to do with your baby's health.

we learned about it in s*x ed.

Answer 8

im going to donate my baby's cord blood because  if  i bank it  there will be a small chance that my baby will use it, beside it can help to safe another little baby's life and anyways it's expensive for me and my  bf...

http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_B...

I hope this help!!

Answer 9

PLEASE donate your baby's cord blood. There is no cost involved if you DONATE it. That is only if you want to store it for your own possible future use (which is not worth the money or trouble). I saw someone else gave you the link, http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_B...

but I wanted to give it to you too, and then tell you WHY it is so important.

Also, know that this takes pre-planning. Most places can't get everything done they need to get done unless you start by your 34th week.

My daughter was saved by a single unit of cord blood. You can read my Thank You letter to her donor under 'source'.

Answer 10

Yes u r correct...Also if ur baby -touch wood- has a serious health problem in the future 20 yrs they could use the cord blood to recreat healthy cells and try 4 a treatment...I've heard it a lot lately and thought about although I have no kids yet...the thing is that it costs quite a lot...at least in my country...U can consult ur doc.

Answer 11

I never researched it myself, but I thought I wanted to and wish I had!

However, I had my little one 12 weeks early, and with everything going on at the time, I never even thought about it! I would definitly ask your doctor about it though!! Good luck!