Since I’m about halfway through my pregnancy, it’s starting to dawn on me that I’m probably going to actually give birth at some point. This time around, I’m determined to donate my baby’s umbilical cord blood.
Cord blood is rich in stem cells, which have been used successfully for the last thirty years to treat various types of cancer, as well as blood, immune, and metabolic disorders.
Although it is harvested from a newborn’s umbilical cord and placenta, cord blood stem cells are classified by most as adult stem cells. They are safer for the recipient, and more versatile, than bone marrow transplants; and umbilical cord blood therapy neatly sidesteps the ethical horror that is embryonic stem cell research (which, by the way, has yielded nothing but medical disappointments, despite the popular hype).
The actual collection process couldn’t be easier for the mother donor, who is probably going to be otherwise occupied with laughing and crying and babbling, “Oh my gosh, it’s a BABY!” (or am I the only one who does that?). But the preparation for donation can take some time—it’s something to ask your medical provider about in the second or third trimester, so arrangements can be made. Some hospitals are equipped to take care of the process from start to finish; others will agree to collect the cord blood if the patient provides a kit from a cord blood bank. Some doctors charge a fee (usually $100 or so) to perform the collection, but others do it for free.
You may, of course, store your baby’s cord blood for your own family’s use, especially if another family member has a disease which might be treated with stem cells—a family donor makes a match more likely. Banking cord blood is expensive (usually over a thousand dollars for the initial process, and then hundreds of dollars per year for storage).
Because of the high cost of testing and storage, public blood banks are still relatively few, and not all donors are eligible. But the benefits are so great, it’s definitely worth looking into. Here is an excellent resource for all sorts of information about donating and banking cord blood, including a list of participating hospitals and blood banks who will assist you if your local hospital is not on the list.
I absolutely love the idea of giving birth, and at the same time extending help and healing to a stranger somewhere else in the world. I love the idea of life giving rise to more life—the notion that help is waiting everywhere, maybe hidden under layers of something that seems worthless. A very G.M. Hopkins-esque idea, isn’t it? Hopkins never imagined sterile bags and cryogenics labs, but the thought of finding life-giving cells in a used-up placenta kind of made me think:
. . . nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things
and though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Well, maybe that’s a little bit weird, but still—glory be to God, whose mercy is just as present in modern medical science as it is in the untouched natural world. Praise Him.
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God’s providence is wondrous! I hate to be a downer, because I like your blog and respect your opinions, but couldn’t the baby use that cord blood? If you birth at a hospital where they snip the cord before all the blood can be taken up I suppose it doesn’t matter if you save it. It may be best for baby’s long term health to have that stem cell rich blood taken in through the cord right after they are born.
Actually, the cord blood donation people require that you wait longer than the standard procedure before clamping the cord—so it still benefits the baby and the donor. (A little fuzzy on the science, but that’s what it said.)
I have been able to donate cord blood the last two times I have given birth. I was thrilled when I found out that my hospital was connected to a public bank. Why this source of ethically responsible and regularly available stem cells is neglected has confused me!
Sarah, I’ve done delayed clamping (waiting until the cord stops pulsing) both times I’ve donated. There is usually still enough blood left in the placenta to qualify for donation.
Thank you, ladies, for letting me know. Cord blood banking is something I’ve considered, but it seems I may have been given sketchy information concerning it. That makes sense, at least to me, about there being blood left in the placenta to constitute a donation. I’ll have to look into it next time I’m expecting. Thanks!
I donated Wolfie’s cord blood because I couldn’t justify spending that kind of money to bank blood privately. However, LifeSource tells you to contact them if your kid gets sick, because they will check to see if they still have your donation in storage.
Wolfie received a certificate with a poem about how the first thing he did in life was help someone else. Very cute. If you order the kit from LifeSource now, you can just keep it in your hospital bag. Super easy.
Great post! Appropriately, it’s GMH’s birthday today. “God’s Grandeur” is definitely one of his best.
My OB had written papers on cord blood, and just before going into surgery I heard one of the nurses ask if the cord blood should be saved, and he said “yes.” So, I assumed that it was common practice for some doctors to save it. I know I had to sign something that said any tissues, etc. that were taken from me during surgery could be disposed of as the hospital saw fit - so I assumed that this was typical at my hospital - or for my doctor anyway. I wish I had asked, but I was a little busy at the moment.
cynthia, the reason why “this source of ethically responsible and regularly available stem cells” is neglected is simple: no big company stands to make obscene profits from it. unlike fetal stem cells, which not only make a ton of money but also appear to legitimize the abortion industry - “we’ve got all these aborted fetuses, it seems a waste not to use them for humanitarian purposes . . .” (inherent contradictions seem well below their radar screen.)
Preggo w número 5, and totally forgot to ask my perspective midwife their policy! Last time the hospital and I
Had an agreement that there use of the blood would be ethically sound. New city=new questions. Maybe St. Jude Hospital has a way to donate….
Just to piggyback off of what alison stated fetal stem cell research also recieves lots of grants and research dollars which once again creates profit.
I have an OB appt this afternoon. I’ll be sure to ask her what her policy is. Someone from cord blood registry has called my house and left messages often, but I’ve never called them back. Donating cord blood to a blood bank should be standard procedure/policy in all hospitals now. It’s too valuable and important and does no harm to the mother or child.
I’ve donated through this group twice now… and I’m getting my paperwork filled out for my next child too!!!
http://www.lifeforcecryobanks.com/options/
Alison is right. There is a campaign from the abortion industry (and by extension the left in general) to hide the benefits of non-embryonic stem cells because they are so desperate to have abortion justified. As for the government, it prefers to sponsor things that don’t work for political gain.
Simcha- I love all of your writing, especially this article. Thanks for highlighting the importance of donating cord blood! I work in the bone marrow/cord blood transplant world, and the gift of cord blood is invaluable to sick children and adults. As wonderful as cord blood is there’s still a need for healthy adult blood stem cell and marrow donors. If any readers are interested in signing up as a potential marrow or blood stem cell donor, the first step can be done at http://join.marrow.org/hope4all Signing up is easy. Donating is life-affirming and a blessing to sick children and adults in need of a transplant.
for those who have delayed clamping and still donated, how long did you delay??? Are you talking a delay of 30 minutes or, 2 hours??? My first baby we cut the cord at about an hour after birth, with my second baby it was closer to 2 and a half hours…..I’d like to donate but I wonder if there’s anything left after that much time?
You are all correct, of course, as to why cord blood and other ethical, moral, non-embryonic sources of stem cells are neglected! Firstly, as with most anything else, follow the money trail! Secondly, the father of all lies UTTERLY DELIGHTS in obfuscating the simple, plain-as-the-nose-on-your-face truth and, tragically, so many of we humans are complicit. Even if people won’t admit to it, the heinous act of abortion troubles them on some level (in that place, deep inside their psyche where God’s natural law permeates even the hardest heart.) Finding an amazing, scientifically advanced (wow!) use for all those aborted fetuses (can’t call it a baby!) assuages that guilt like no other salve ever will.
Great topic, Simcha. I donated (or attempted to donate) the cord blood with many of my pregnancies through Cryobanks, Int. It looks like they go by Lifeforce Cryobanks (see Emily’s link above) now. My hospital is not listed as a participating hospital, but they were still willing to do it, and I didn’t have to pay anything to my doctor. It is extra paperwork and you have to remember the kit—and make sure the nurses don’t stick the kit up in the cupboard and forget to do the collection at delivery (which happened to me once!). One time I did the whole process, and before the courier came, I read the amount of blood collected over the phone to the Cryobanks rep and she told me it was just under the amount needed to justify having it sent to them. So it was all thrown away :( but all the other times I really felt like it was worth the effort to know we were doing something good for humanity!! God bless you for the remainder of your pregnancy and delivery of #9!
I’m getting mixed messages about the viability of this option if cord clamping is delayed. Some will say that it’s possible to collect enough cord blood once it has stopped pulsating (which is the ideal amount of time to delay, to make sure the baby gets as much of the blood as possible) but others have said that there’s almost nothing left once it stops pulsating. If given the choice between collecting the blood for donation and letting my baby have it, I’m going to let my baby have it, because, I’m sorry, he needs it the most at that moment. But if there is enough left after pulsating, I see no reason why the remainder shouldn’t be donated. I just don’t think donation should be the priority.
I didn’t know you could donate it! I had only heard of the banking option, and that is too expensive. And yes, I have been known to babble, “It’s a baby!” after giving birth.
I was totally bummed when they couldn’t use the cord blood from one of my kids after birth - I think the first one. It seemed like such a waste. Something about there not being enough? Anyway, Simcha, as you say, it’s a fabulous thing that Nature gives us this opportunity, to give even more life when so much is being given.
And what is it with Hopkins these days? He’s in the air - this is the second time in two days someone has quoted him and I’ve thought “my gosh I love that poet…”
I unfortunately waited too late to ask my doctor about it. I think I was…39.5 weeks pregnant? I guess that was too late ;)
But NEXT time!
Simcha,
You’re not alone in your reaction to the child. The doctors held a mirror for me so I could see my baby crowning and my response? “OH MY GAWD, IT’S A BABY!”
Amy - I agree with letting the baby have as much of the cord blood as they can. If you let the cord pulse out, it gives the newborn TONS of iron to get through the first few months.
I also received mixed messages about delayed clamping and cord blood donation. We transferred to the hospital after an attempted homebirth and were able to donate ours—they asked us if we wanted to as part of the admitting procedures at our hospital. I’m not sure if there would be enough blood left to donate if you waited 30 minutes - 2 hours to cut the cord, though. (Every doc seems to have different ideas of what ‘delayed clamping’ means, and we were just too enthralled with our newborn after a loooong labor to tell them to wait.) No harm in trying! If they can’t get enough, they can’t get enough.
Simcha, thanks for posting on such an important topic. They are doing great stuff with cord blood research and treatments and most pregnant women just don’t know it’s an option.
I banked by baby’s cord blood with PacifiCord, a family cord blood bank in Irvine, CA. I felt very strongly about cord blood banking since my other child suffers from a immune deficiency disorder that may be used as treatment. At this point, I’m not certain if it will work, but to me, it is worth the chance, and money is no object when your child is suffering.
On another note, you can wait for the cord to stop pulsating before having your doctor or midwife collect the cord blood. This is a major misconception that is out there today. It is important to have your care provider collect it within a 15 minute window of time, though because the blood will start to clot…
Funny, I have found money to still be a major hurdle when my child is suffering - to the credit card company’s delight, no doubt. Surely, money is not the most important concern - health is - but man, sometimes (rent check time) I wish I weren’t going to be required to pay through the nose for “my portion” of my fourth child’s third heart surgery. Then again, I know I am blessed to have the option of heart surgery in the first place, so many don’t.
Do you ever stop and think, how many of your children you would have if you had them all without modern medical care? I have. Of five, one. If I hadn’t died during my first delivery, my babies would have. (Preemies.) And I have RH negative blood, one of my twins that first time had positive blood. My grandmother had the same problem, and after two children she had a long succession of miscarriages that the doctor finally stopped by telling them that if she got pregnant again she probably wouldn’t survive. She didn’t have the benefit of Rhogam, which began being used in the late sixties. I and my children did, praise God!
Anyway, so cord donation is only a minor fee if anything? Is that what you all have experienced? I am going to look into this possiblity for the next kiddo. Sounds like there isn’t a downside.
“When my wife went into labor three months early and had an emergency birth, I contacted several cord blood banks but only Americord was willing to have a representative meet us in the hospital in New York City within the hour with a collection kit. I was very pleased with the representative’s attitude and for personally keeping us updated about the cord blood processing results by phone and by e-mail after the collection. Our new baby is healthy and looking back it is clear that we made the right decision. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with your service and highly recommend Americord Registry.”
Have a look on the website for more info
http://cordadvantage.com/cord-blood-blogs/
What Are The Best Sources Of Stem Cells?
http://i-am-pregnant.cordadvantage.com/2011/12/what-are-the-best-sources-of-stem-cells/
The Importance of Placenta Stem Cells
http://cordadvantage.com/the-placenta/9-the-placenta/21-importance-of-placenta-cord-blood.html
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