Donating Cord Blood

[Fi]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone knows exactly what happens when cord blood is donated, who uses it, and how people generally feel about it?

Fi

[Naomi]

Hi Fi, i looked into doing this when i was prengnant with Nick, they store it in a big freezer in case anyone in the immediate family gets any disease that may require it eg Leaukemia (from memory)
The reason we didn't do it is because we were told that it costs up to $7000 to store it

[Fi]

Thanks Naomi,
I know about the personal storing of cord blood (OMG How much???) - and I dont think thats what the hospital means by this? It was on the birth plan, and was specifically "donations".
I wondered whether they use the cord blood for research or possibly other people with leukemia etc. I'm a regular blood donor and listed as an organ donor, and thought if this is a helpful thing to do, I'd do it!

Fi

[Naomi]

Hi Fi, sorry i must of read your post wrong, but it was 4am LOL
I have never heard of donating cord blood and none of my dr's or midwives ever mentioned it either.
I am also an organ donor and would donate blood, but your not allowed if you have lived in England for some reason, so this is deffinately something that i would of been intrested in.
I hope someone else can give you some info on it.

[Astrolady]

My cord blood went to stem cell research, cause I was a blood group that they need alot off. Mum actually told me that after I got home. The nurse did tell me but was too caught up in the moment for it to sink in.

Love

[Gemma]

There is a brochure you can get on donating cord blood as well as advertisements in pg mags.

I am going to donate the cord when I give birth. It could possibly save a life and gets thrown away anyway.

I donated my bone marrow a few years ago. Unfortunately the baby died but at least she had a second chance with my bone marrow.

It's great that that these small things we can do could make a difference to another person's life.

[min]

i am going to the angliss hospital in melbourne and i am donating my cord blood.

if you donate it they use it for research and or donation if needed. if you have a child who is sick and needs the cord blood to help with an illness, you are entitled to use it if it has not already been used.

i think it is a freat idea. i cant afford to have mine stored privately but would be glad for anyone who needs it to be able to use it.

[Tracey]

Min, Have we discussed before that I am also having my bub & had DD at Angliss!

I will donate it, if it could save a life or give anyone a greater chance at life & I don't rneed it & neither does my bub then they are welcome to it.

I have argued with friends over donating anything from my child iof it could save another & to me it would be a blessing & a gift. I am also an organ donor & blood donor too!

[*Yvette*]

I'm a blood & organ donor, & I've filled in the form at the hospital to donate cord blood. As long as it doesn't cost me anything, and they don't cut babies' cords til they've stopped pulsating, I'm happy to do it as helping kids with leukaemia this way sounds like a step forward from bone marrow and it doesn't hurt anyone.

I'm confused though. I know I'm supposed to have an extra blood test for it but I haven't heard anything yet. And when I opened the bounty bag at home, it has 3 different brochures for cord blood donation in it.

I'll take them all with me and hassle the hospital next time I'm there to explain it all. It sounds like there are different organizations dealing with it, so how do I know I've picked the right one? Do they only charge you money if you're saving it just for yourself perhaps?

[Ambah]

Yvette - as far as I know, you only have to pay for cord blood storage if you are saving it for personal use. I think it is something like $8000 for 20 years.
Surely if you are donating it to the public blood bank there should be no charges of any sort!

[corr]

I have been reading about this and Ambah, you are spot on. Unfortunately only a select few of the public hospitals have public donations of cord blood, otherwise if you go to another hospital you have to go with one of the private firms and pay the $8000.

I think that the public system sounds great, your cord blood is available for anyone who needs it and it is still available for your baby and family. The public info says that it there is a 85% chance it will be available in 10 years if you or your family does need it.

The hospital I am going to doesn't have the public cord bank available. For me this is a real dilemma, I mean private collection and storage is really expensive and we can't really afford it. But I also can imagine if my baby or family were sick and they needed the stem cells and we hadn't kept them, I wouldn't forgive myself. :-({|=

Also I don't think the industry is really regulated, I mean imagine if you did pay the $8000 and then when you needed to use blood they said sorry but it's been spoiled!!!

Anyway that's my 2 cents
Corr

[*Megan*]

I am donating the cord blood too and have already signed the form....seems a bit early I know - but it was recommended that I do this!

Hopefully it will be put to good use....

Megan

[mouse_9_2001]

id like to donate cord blood if i get asked too..
i might ask them at my next appointment if they do it..anything to help save a life

take care
Lesley

[min]

tracey, yeah i think we have realised before that we are at same hospital, i think there is a few people going to the angliss, I have always had good experiences there, not with bubbies yet, but with other illnesses.

do you reckon the private hospitals and ones that dont offer the storage just take the cords and store them anyway, i mean how would we know what is done with them after they are cut?

[*Yvette*]

I still hadn't heard anything back re the form I filled in for cord blood donation, so I rang them.

They don't do it for twins coz they're scared of getting them mixed up! Even though mine are identical.

Anyway, I asked about it still, and the hospitals that do the public donation one in Melbourne are Box Hill, Royal Women's, Frances Perry House, and William Angliss. The donations are available to anyone in the world. You do need an extra blood test but it costs nothing. And they don't need to clamp/cut the cord early or anything, you can still let it stop pulsating first, etc. They take it from the placenta end, and usually before the placenta comes out as the time can vary a lot.

The other mobs who put their brochures in the bounty bag are for private donation where you're storing it for yourself only, and they're the ones that cost all the money.

www.bmdi.org.au is the website for bone marrow donations charity site, and when you click on 'our work' you can find the cord blood bank bit. There's FAQs on there.

So it sounds great to me, no cost, no harm, the pope even approves it. They just seem to have limited resources atm re collecting. I'd do it if they'd take me, lol.

[Von]

I looked into doing this when having dd but it was a bit to pricey I think it was around 6,000. I have a few friends who signed up for it and would you believe they did not get enough blood from it so they could not go ahead with storing it.

[*Yvette*]

That's interesting. I wonder how much blood they actually need. There was a post about cord blood donation on another thread from Sarah Buckley, & she said that donating cord blood did effect the timing of the clampling and cutting so that enough blood was available, I think she said the amount too.

It's a tricky one. If I was able to do it I'd be asking a lot more questions. I love the idea of helping a sick child, but I want my babies to have all the blood they're supposed to have & not have their cords clampled too soon.