Umbilical cord blood cells

Have any of you heard of saving the blood cells from the umbilical cord?  I read about it in a parents magazine.  A woman had had twins and saved hers.  One of the twins had CB so they used some of the blood cells from it's umbilical cord and the twin has no sign of CB anymore.  On the other hand, I have been trying to research this and can't find much out there.  Are there any moms on here who have done this of heard of it?  I am almost 34 weeks along with twins and was wondering if I should mention this to my doctor-will he think I'm crazy?

[TwinsMamma]

Here in Australia, I have been to fund raising dinners raising money for cord blood, so have listened to a few doctors that were guest speakers on the subject. Here you can get your babies cord blood stored at a cost to you, or you can donate the cord blood to the cord blood bank which any child in need can have access to if they are a match.

I really wanted to save the twins cord blood after hearing all the wonderful things that can be done with it, it can save a childs life. The only catch is that to donate it, my local hospital doesn't collect it- I have have the babies in a capital city which has the facility to collect cord blood- and they can only do so between the hours of 9am-5pm Mon-Fri due to funding. They call cord blood the miracle of recycling. It seem such a waste that nearly all hospitals throw your cord blood in the bin. It can help your child recover from certain types of cancer and other diseases. I think if its possible to do it, you should. Even if you can donate it, at least it wont go to waste.

[jjsh44]

Thank you very much, I was thinking the same thing.
Oh and I meant CP not CB-woops!

[heatherlynn22]

i wanted to save the cord blood but the doctors/nurses i had never mentioned or even answered my questions about it so i didn't get to.

[tbeards]

Here is a thread that was recently in the Pregnancy 35+ forum where I have my thoughts on cord blood banking.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Pregnancy-35/Banking-Cord-Blood/show/973865?personal_page_id=15513&post_id=post_4556359

[pookie1121]

From what I have heard, it is a good idea to donate your cordblood to the banks that collect it, but saving your cordblood yourself isn't probably worth it, as the chance that your child will need it is very small.

[1st]

I had my daughter's cord blood saved!  I am glad I did it, just for piece of mind.  Send me a message, and I can forward you all the info of which company I went with, and all of that.  The place we used (it's called Viacord, but I can give you more info), was very efficient!  They sent someone right to the hospital to collect the blood.  We get letters from them all the time about the different research they are doing, and if we want to participate (if we have a need to participate in certain projects).  It's pretty pricey, but I thought it was worth it for piece of mind.  I am going to use them again for the twins.  They are the only one of the private cord banks that have an fda approved collection bag for c-sections (at least I think that's what it's for, but I'll read you the brochure).  
-1st

[1st]

p.s.  I didn't have a c-section with my daughter, but liked it that the bag was fda approved in case I had needed one.  I am hopeful I won't need a c-section with the twins, but just in case, it's nice to know.....

[jjsh44]

Thank you kindly ladies for all your info and opinions-it is greatly appreciated!
tbeards: Thank you for the link and for your honesty.  It's nice to hear both sides

[Ready_4_Baby_2]

Hi I thought i would share my experience when I had my daughter. I thought about storing her cord blood but couldn't afford it. However I saw where the hospital where i was going to give birth had a research program and was studying how cord blood could be used. So i donated my daughter's cord blood for research. I thought it would be a cool story to tell her one day. :D