Private Cord Blood Banking

Cord blood banking has its pros and cons.  You will want to weigh both before making your decision on using a cord blood bank.  The pros and cons usually center around saving cord blood for your own children, donating it to a public cord bank, the cost of storing cord blood in a cord blood bank, and the preparation it takes to have the execute the procedure.

Many doctor’s believe that saving cord blood to help future patients is good.  But most of them do not feel you should save the cord blood for your own children.  They say that it is unlikely that you will use the blood to help the child it came from, although it is more probable that it could help a sibling.  They also note, that cord blood is not usually used to treat genetic disorders for the person it came from because the stem cells may contain the disorder.

To many, including some doctors, saving your baby’s cord blood in a private bank is not good for society and is, therefore, a con.  They say that society would benefit more by having the cord blood donated to a public bank.  The other end of the argument, and a pro for many parents, is the fact that they will have some of their own child’s cord blood stored in a bank that they trust and can access whenever a need may rise.  They don’t feel that it is their duty to give there child’s cord blood to the public and will not be shamed into doing so.  With the future never clear as to someone’s medical health, parents that save their child’s cord blood in a private cord blood bank, feel better knowing that their child will have access to it for the rest of their lives and will not have to go to the public bank.  This gives them peace of mind that it will be blood that they know and will not be rejected by the child’s body because the stems cells will have come from the child’s cord blood.  Those that disagree with storing cord blood in private banks say that the public bank can provide each individual what they need in a safe and cost effective way.

Cost to store

The cost to store cord blood can be a negative or con for many.  The price to store cord blood ranges from around a thousand dollars to several thousands of dollars.  There is usually a yearly fee involved to maintain the cord blood in the bank.  Cord blood storage has not been around for a long time and it is not known exactly how long it can be stored for.  So far samples of up to twelve years have been tested and shown to have no deterioration.  There are some claims that samples of cord blood have been used from longer, like over 100 years, but this has not been substantiated.

Preparation and effort to do procedure

Another part of cord blood banking that can be considered a con and not a pro, is the amount of effort it takes to prepare and carry out the process of collecting the cord blood.  A mother needs to know in advance if she is going to collect the cord blood and send it to a bank.  This requires the parents to make their decision well in advance of the baby’s birth.  Once the decision is made to use a cord blood bank.  The parents have to send for a kit that they will supply to the hospital at the birth. The doctor and hospital staff have to make preparation to collect the cord blood and send it to the cord blood bank.  There could also be an additional fee for the doctor and hospital carrying out the procedure.  This could possible limit the hospital and doctor that the mother uses for delivery.  Some doctors and hospitals may not offer the service of collecting the cord blood.  This could be an additional con for the parents.
medical history and safety

In collecting the cord blood, the bank needs to keep detailed records of the families medical history.  This information can be used when deciding to harvest stem cells from the cord blood.  This can be a pro and con for using either public or private banks.  It is a pro because it can be known where the cord blood came from and what types of medical issues the donor family had in the past.  It can be a con because there is more personal information collect about people that they may not want others to know.

If you are thinking about saving your baby’s cord blood, you have two choices;  private cord blood banking and public cord blood banking.  This post is about private cord blood banking.  Private cord blood banking gives you the opportunity to store your child’s umbilical cord blood for later use should it become necessary.

All of the private cord blood banks are regulated by the FDA; certain standards must be met.  Private cord banks can be a little expensive in some people’s opinion.  The cost to store cord blood, if you have the money, is minimal compared to the benefit your child will get if the cord blood is ever needed.

Some people, including some doctors, feel that storing your child’s cord blood in a private bank has little benefit for anyone.  They say that statistically, only a small percentage of children ever use their own cord blood.  They feel that banking the blood in a public cord blood bank would better serve the population as a whole.  It is a good thing that some people donate their cord blood to public banks, but you should not feel bad if you want to save your child’s cord blood in a private cord blood bank.  The statistics they are basis their conclusions have a short range, being only a few decades.  And, the statistics also say that many diseases are rare; meaning most of us won’t get the types of disease that are treated by cord blood.  Read our post on cord blood banking pros and cons to help you weigh the benefits and drawbacks to using a private cord blood bank vs. a public cord blood bank.

The diseases treatable by cord blood is growing and having your own store in a private cord blood bank could greatly benefit your child that it comes from or a sibling.  If you are considering banking your child’s cord blood in a private cord blood bank, then you should read through our site.  We have researched the topic fairly well and have provided information to aid you in your decision.