The Best Cord Blood Storage Services Are Free
Google “cord blood,” as I did when I wrote this article, and you will find that services collapse on their own, asking you for your baby’s cord blood and, oh, just a few thousand dollars. An updated statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics says: don’t listen to these guys. There is a better option and it’s free.
You don’t hear much about free cord blood banks because (shockingly) they don’t have the same advertising budget. But these free public cord banks are far more likely to save a child’s life.
That’s the difference: Private cord blood banks, the ones that have all the ads and charge thousands of dollars in fees, are like a safe for your baby’s cells. You hide your belongings and theoretically can come back later to withdraw money. Sounds like a good deal if you don’t think about it.
But the whole point of saving umbilical cord blood is that it contains stem cells that can be used for a procedure similar to bone marrow transplantation. Guess what – if your child develops an illness so severe that he needs a transplant, chances are his own accumulated cord blood cells will be useless . Eventually they will have the same defect.
According to Parents magazine , over the past decade, there have been only about 70 transplants from a private cord blood bank, and almost all of them were made to close relatives. They were not used for the child who donated them. Private cord blood banking only pays off if you have multiple children and one of them needs a transplant, and another of your children can donate a suitable type of tissue.
But with a public bank, samples will be used much more often. Your baby’s blood may be perfect for someone you’ve never met, and vice versa. If your family has a sick child and their newborn sibling is suitable for the tissue type, you can still use a government bank for targeted donation.
Many children need transplants without having suitable family members, which is why government banks are so important. Banks especially need people of underrepresented ethnicity, including people of mixed race. The more varied the collection of the bank, the more chances that someone with an unusual type of fabric will be able to find a match for themselves.
So if you are thinking about storing your newborn’s cord blood, try a community bank. The collection and donation is usually handled by the hospital, so be sure to ask your doctor or midwife well before giving birth to clarify the details. You can find a list of hospitals and preparation instructions here .