hi everyone! I was just wondering what other people's thoughts are on banking your baby's umbilical cord blood? dh and I are pretty close to enrolling with viacord because we like their program the best. the cost is manageable for us because we're using one of their payment plans. the customer service rep we spoke shared some pretty amazing statistics about how the chances of using the cord blood stem cells are getting more and more likely. we just didn't feel as comfortable with any of the other companies, but I was just wondering what other people thought as well.

if you're making this decision, good luck!!

Can you just clarify this for me: You have to pay to donate??? Or is the blood being banked for the use of the baby if the need ever arises?

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We banked out baby's blood cord through Viacord. We are THRILLED with them and everyone we spoke to that's who they recommended. Including the doctor and the hospital. Hannah's mom the fee you are paying monthly is for storage. YOu are not donating it you are storing it in case you need it.

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Ok thanks. That is one thing I don't know much about I don't even know if they do that here (?) I hope I didn't sound like an idot!

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Of course you didn't sound like an idiot. I knew nothing about it until we started to look into it. And we spoke with a lot of people that had banked it too. You could give Viacord a call. I have there number if you want it. We called them a few times before we decided to do it. They were very helpful without being pushy.

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Well I would love to do something like that but one: I live in Canada and I am not sure what companies do that here. Two: How expensive is it? I'm kinda tight on cash (I always am being 18 and almost due!) but if it is a reasonable price I'm sure I could look into it! Thanks!

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Hmm I am not sure if they have it in Canada. I guess it couldn't hurt to find that out. As far as expense though I must admit we did find it expensive. They do have an option to pay off the initial payment but it still may be a lot. We didn't do it with our son, we didn't have the cash then we had just bought a house. We were able to do it this time and happy to find out it could be used more then once. So if God forbid we needed it for our daughter, we could also use it for our son.

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Hannah's Mommy- I am also in Toronto, Canada. I have heard of this but I am not sure if they do offer it here where we live.
If you are interested you can always ask your obstetrician if she/hw can give you any information about this service and if it is offered here and also the general cost.

Good luck!

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This is so interesting.....and Sounds like you are thinking wise for any troubles the futre could bring!
I personaly with my babies have left the cord blood to run down the cord keeping the baby lower than the placenta (still inside) just after birth , so that the BABIES BLOOD is in the baby to help it get stronger than when the cord is just cut....as a percentage of the blood then remains OUT OF BABY and this can make the baby weaker and less able to fight in the first few days and less strong.

I do not feel that that i would PAY TO STORE the blood from the cord for possible years and years IN CASE, as i would rather deal with life and its problems when they arise and within reason NOT BE PREPARED you could say....

But i also think that we can influance things to happen with things being on our minds...a bit like if you persistantly tell someone they dont look well....they can start to feel ill...well i would not like to think i was safe due to having plans if something happened as it in my book could be asking for trouble, all in the head you could say but a powerful truth non the less.....

This is all a very persoanl thing and good for you those who are doing it...i am not even sure if we do that in the UK?

I dont even have any tests while pregnant as i dont see the point in knowing and worring with out reason....if any of my children had been born with any problems or this one i carry now i would rather deal with it when needed at birth......i personaly DONT LIKE MESSING WITH NATURE TO MUCH and think that some things are best left to just get on with what they have to do.

A lot of people feel much safer knowing that they have planed around all that may or may not happen, if this makes you feel better about the future then i say go ahead and do it, what ever it is! EACH TO THERE OWN!

blessed be

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Moving on to baby no 6
[font=Verdana]This is my 6th Baby....Yippeeee![/font][br]

I'd love to bank my baby's cord blood, but we can't afford it.

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We banked our baby's blood cord with Cord Blood Registry. They were the best choice when we looked into it. I was really SKEPTICAL about who I chose. CBR was the only one I could find that was Better Business Bureau certified.... also Viacord was REALLY rude to me on the phone while I asked questions. The people at CBR are super nice, and they put a tracking number on the box of supplies to take the blood and also on the package you send back to them. After I had my baby within 3 hours the guy was there to pick it up, drove it to the airport himself, and there was a tracking device to make sure the package made it to them. When it arrived we received a certificate that we stored and what our storage numbe is and told us how many cells they were able to store, an e-mail verifying they received it, and they sent us a Christmas card... and updates all the time. They were expensive, but they have payment plans with credit approval you can get an extended plan. My husband and I are only 18 and 20 so we didn't have credit so we put ours on a 6 month plan... we just paid like 305.00 for the first 5 months... then the 6th month we will pay like 157.00 and then from then on it is only 90.00 a year to store it. We have only had it for a little while and we are going to check to see if it can help my baby's great grandma and uncle. Good luck! I personally think this is a WONDERFUL idea. It is an insurance to have that you hope you never have to use!

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Age: 22
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