Cord Blood

I did consider it. But the cost was huge (not that you can put a cost on your childs life if you end up needing to use the cord blood). Also im one of those people who dont really like to think of the what ifs, and thats kind of like what saving the cord blood is.

If your really interested you should talk to your gp or specialist, they will have a more in depth view on things. I don't think having the cord blood will give peace of mind as its not a guranteed cure, just a good bet really. If you do decide to go ahead I wouldn't mind hearing your feed back about the process of them collecting it etc. It would be really interesting.

you'd probably be better off betting on science - the advances they make nowadays, new vaccines, new treatments, faster diagnosis.. the fact that they couldnt gurantee the cord blood after storing it was the main thing that decided me. there are no guarantees in life, all we can do is the best we can - but yes stopping worrying is harder said than done.

i am also looking into it, but haven't fully investigated it. the main idea of it though is that if your child gets sick... usually the treatments - while killing off the bad stuff, also kill off the good cells in your kids body.. and there is nothing there to give them a boost to regenerate healthy cells and get them on track again... cord blood is full of stem cells... which, well, is pretty much what your baby was made of.. like the starting ingredients that got everything growing and forming. so putting them into a kids body helps to get things growing and healthy again. i also like the fact that if matched.. one childs cord blood may be suitable for it's sibling.. although you have to apply to some person who reviews it on a case by case basis.

i think the downside, apart from the cost, is that it is still pretty unheard of here, and you have to get the kit and do things in a certain way. we know of someone who had the kit there, but ended up having an unexpected homebirth... all that money and the kit was the last thing on their mind.. by the time they remembered it was too late to collect it.

I would really love to do it, i think it's a great step forwards, but until it becomes more commonplace here, the cost is far too huge. come on.. over in america it now only costs around $40 I've seen it advertised on american sites. hopefully the price will come down soon, so we can all afford the "luxury" of giving our kids a chance if something bad ever happens to them.

bump

sorry to confuse you Liz

*note to self* take note of date of first post