cord blood donation

[sric]

Hi bubhub, I am very interested in donating my baby's cord blood to the Sydney Cord Blood Bank but there is not a collection service available at my maternity hospital (Mona Vale Hospital in Sydney). I think that if more mothers-to-be knew about the good that this painless donation could make to sick people's lives, the number of donations would definately improve. I have been talking to some friends who are also pregnant who didn't even know this service existed. Please pass on my comments to the relevant authorities - cord blood donation should be much more widely available to expectant parents who would like to make a difference.

[Lillianne]

Good point, I totally agree, but I would also add that it should be compulsory to offer it to mothers, as a lot of them just don't know. I didn't know about it untill I read it in one of the forums, my OB never told me, the hospital never mentioned anything either, when I did my research, and it happend to be too expensive to store it for yourself, between $2500 and $3000, and it's frustrating that not many people know about it, if, for example, most moms used the free service, because not many people can afford the private, then if someone really needed it, it would be more available to public, simply because there would be more people doing it, so they wouldn't have to wait for ages to get cured.
I think every expectant mother should be aware of that.

[AM]

IMO the real and immediate benefits to your baby at birth of delayed cord clamping far outweigh the 'possible' benefit of storing the blood for a hypothetical situation perhaps many years down the track. (which can get horribly expensive as well...)

I feel it is a babies birthright to be given their full complement of blood when they are born.

See this article for the reasons to practise delayed cord clamping at birth, and have all that blood flow where it belongs, into your baby.

www.gentlebirth.org/archives/cordIssues.html

A quick summary:

*boosts babies iron to correct levels at birth

*boosts babies blood volume to correct level (extra 25 - 40%) a HUGE amount... which can have a big impact on the babies overall health, especially premature babies.

*umbilical cord unclamped serves as continued life support after baby is born, substantially decreasing (a ususally artificial and iatrogenic) need for resusitation at birth.

"Research is clear that cutting the cord less than five minutes after the birth deprives the baby of oxygen as it takes some time for successful completion to newborn circulation. And it also takes the blood away from the baby, who needs the blood to fill the newly expanded pulmonary vessels and to re-fill blood vessels elsewhere in the body that were squeezed during the birth process."

*the mother benefits as well, as the less blood is left in the placenta, the easier it is for the placenta to detatch and come out.

[Lillianne]

Yes, there is a theory regarding blood flow after birth, but it is unknown whether it is true. If the baby is born at term and healthy, then apparently it isn't that necessary, they would only do it as a precaution when the bub is premmy.
There is also another theory that too much flow after birth could cause jaundice.

[AM]

It's not a theory at all, it's fact, (physiological common sense in fact) and the jaundice link is tenuous.

Jaundice is very rarely seen in homebirth babies, probably 99% of who have had very delayed cord clamping.

The link in my previous post is extremely comprehensive, and goes into it all in a lot of depth, including research on the subject.

[sric]

That is all very interesting information AM - i was not aware of that. But that is exactly my point. If the info was more accessible to expectant parents then everyone can make up their own mind about the risks and potential benefits. At the moment in Sydney the information & collection service is only available a 3 hospitals i think. I am talking about donating the cord blood to a public blood bank for use by whoever needs it - not by a private company for my own use later down the track.