Important irish Information

kelly A asked: "Can secondhand smoke effect the cells in cord blood? I'm 5 mths pregnant and pple smoke where I work. I'd like to save the cord blood for my baby. But I heard that secondhand smoke could affect the cord blood. If they don't respect me and my baby, I'm going to call Organization of Safety and Health Association on them. They are the ones that enforce the Clean Indoor Act. Aside from that I was just curious about the effects on secondhand smoke on cord blood."

A1: xsandybreezerx replied: "you should also be worried for yourself and the baby, not only the cord blood....check out the following website, it might tell you... "

A2: mable.syrup replied: "Maybe a better option would be to donate the cord blood (hey it's free to do) to someone who can use it now- instead of saving it "in case" your child might need it someday??????"

A3: livsmom replied: "maybe you should ask your coworkers not to smoke near you. not sure where you live, but in some states its illegal to smoke in the workplace. take care of you and baby now, second hand smoke is dangerous either way"

A4: Emily O replied: "You should be much much more worried about the baby getting the secondhand smoke, never mind the cord blood. You should find another job if you are forced to be around secondhand smoke all day. Your baby could be underweight and premature, adn have a higher risk of getting asthma as a kid."

A5: ohmi_mia replied: "I'd try calling one of the banks to save it to see the effects. Try getting a small fan to have around you to make sure the smoke doesn't come close toward you. Otherwise I'd talk to your manager or a supervisor about your rights at work."

Smiley asked: "My hospital gives me the option of donating cord blood. This is apparently different from cord blood banking since the cord blood can be used by anyone and it is free. I had my daughter's cord blood donated at her birth (thought, why not?) And am planning to donate my son's cord blood at his birth. Does anyone know how long the cord blood would be stored and if there is a chance your own child can use it?"

A1: dueinoctwith#3 replied: "It is used for many things and really doesn't get stored for long because they have uses for it. I want to donate but i am not sure if this hospital takes the donations or not so i have to call and ask. I didn't hear about it until recently."

A2: KD replied: "I have read lots of diff. articles on this.... And they all seem to vary but this is what I got from the majority... Private you can use towards your family but public goes to anyone.... also I read something that if you baby get cancer or something they can actually not use that cord blood bc it has the same stuff in it as bone marrow and the same bad stuff... I'm not sure how accurate this info is because I have read so many diff. things but hope this gives you somewhere to start thinking... I will prob. donate my childs it helps with research which could help one day might help my children in the future.."

A3: mich06mads replied: "When you pay to store your childs cord blood the bank will generally store the cord blood for 20 years. You would have to store the blood for your child exclusively."

A4: midnightmoon62 replied: "Private banks will store for up to 20 years I believe. Public banks will keep them for a lil less. However, in donating to a public bank, it is likely the units have already been donated to someone for use. So no, you would not be able to track down your own child's donated unit for use, because someone else has likely already used it. As for privatly banking... IF the child develops a disease that can currently be treated by bone marrow transplant or that can be treated in the future using cord blood, they may be able to use it. Stem cell transplants (the medically accurte term for a bone marrow transplant) are done autologous all the time. Autologous means that you use your own stem cells, and the cord blood of the child would be its own cells. However, an 'auto' transplant currently is really only a time extender, not a cure, for most things. Also, currently, one unit of cord blood is not enough to support transplant for anyone larger than a small child. Depending on the age of your child when the disease happens, he may need to units for the transplant. is the National Marrow Donors Program. They can give you a lot more information"

SleeplessinSF asked: "My fiance and I are expecting in July and trying to decide if we should save our babies cord blood. My father recently passed away from a disease that could have been cured by use of cord blood, however, he was 60 years old and I believe that cord blood is only good for 24 years. The cost is substantial, but it doesn't seem like this is a lifetime solution to problems that typically happen later in life. Would love to hear peoples opinions!"

A1: Magic 8 Ball replied: "Very likely, most of the illnesses your child could use cord blood for will occur after 24 years of age."

A2: Miajewel replied: "YES! I saw a family on the today show last week. The baby has cerebral palsy or some other degenerative disorder. they gave him a blood transfusion introvenously when he was 2 with his own cord blood and he has almost completely been cured. the doctors expect a full recovery. "

A3: LYN replied: "I never heard that story in my in tire life!. if you save it how you gonna take care of that for the rest of your life!?"

A4: Sharon replied: "I don't think it is worth the money. As you said. it is only effective for 24 years. Hopefully your child won't have any serious illness which can be cured by stem cell blood, but I doubt if s/he will before they reach the age of 24. And medicine is advancing in such a rapid pace. Today stem cell blood is "the" thing, tomorrow there will be a new discovery."

Firienscatha asked: "I am due in about 4 weeks, and have been interested in Cord Blood Banking for research developement purposes. All of the private banks cost to much (insurance will not cover it) and most of the time it is held for your personal use, not to be used for research or to help others in need. I want to donate my baby's cord blood to a public bank (which is free and gets used to help others in need and/or for research). I have come up against a brick wall when trying to find a way to donate as there are no public banks in my area. Does anyone know of a way to donate to a public bank if it is out of your area? If you know of any that are in the central valley of California that would be helpful as well."

A1: thuydiemtran replied: "As one of the few who's benefitted from a cord blood transplant, I know how priceless it is. You can find out more from the link I've referenced on how to donate cord blood. It might be too far along in your pregnancy to donate now but you can contact stemcyte and they'll send you a kit to take to the hospital with you when you are about to deliver. This option allows your dr to collect the cord blood after your baby is born, especially if your hospital is not a participating hospital. Here's the story on how cord blood saved my life:"

A2: marissa d replied: "To be honest the best way is to talk it over with your obgyn and they should give you some insight on what you should do. You can also contact I believe the red cross and they can give you information."

A3: rive_sud replied: "i'm not 100 percent sure of this since there was a lot going on at the time :-) , but i'm pretty sure it was asked on our hospital's pre-admission form and then again when we were in the l&d room. check with your hospital. they get asked far more annoying questions than that one. public banking is the right thing to do :-)"

ccclaire33 asked: "We're pretty sure we want to bank our baby's cord blood. Any BTDT moms who have already done this? Who is the best? Who should we go with? Any links or advice would be helpful. TIA!"

A1: ohmi_mia replied: "When researching, we found the best deal to be with Cord Blood Registry. Although expensive, we found that what they had to offer was the best. I definitely recommend calling up banks and asking them: 1. How financially secure they are 2. Do they own their own lab 3. What payment plans they have 4. What kind of transplant experience do they have Here are some good sites we used when we started researching: I guess cord blood Registry also has a free program where you can bank for free. I'd look into that as well. "

A2: sjeboyce replied: "we went with Viacord but i dont know how much it was.. my husbands grandfather paid for it before my daughter was born but you can go to the website and get free information"

A3: isabella s replied: "Hello, My DH and I decided to bank our baby's cord blood. Even though he is not due until December we registered ahead with CBR. They recommend you register in your second trimester, to avoid any delays. We did a lot of research on cord blood banking and on the companies that do it. You have to think when you choose a company about their finical stability. You do not want to pay all this money and your company, goes bankrupt. Also another thing to think about is where do they store it? You should think about natural disasters, what if's should be considered. CBR stores theirs in Arizona, where as most companies store theirs on the east coast. Then you need to consider the technique they use to collect it. What if you need to use some of it, will it all be used or will some still be accessible. With CBR it will. Some companies store them in tubes, some in vacuum sealed bags. Last thing I think even one should consider is the accessibly to your specimen should you need it, after all that is why you stored it, right? "

jonboy13032 asked: "With its use in stem cell research, will banking cord blood be a new craze or maybe even a necessity? And if it is up & coming, then will insurance companies or health care providers cover the cost of it? I'd love to hear from some professionals thanx..."

A1: cold grey Ash replied: "Most people want to bank their kid's blood "in case" one day they may need a transplant, etc. Using the stem cells in the umbilical cord may hel with that if you need it one day. However, the chances that you kid would need that and that it would be available quickly enough is really a long shot. We chose not to bank our sons, and I think we made the right decision."

A2: Panda replied: "It's an interesting concept . . especially if there are known diseases within the family . . however there are some limitations to banking the cord blood . . chief among them is that in some cases the cord blood harbors the same disease (if this is intended to be saved for all disease types) which means the cord blood for the patient won't work. Another problem is that the cord blood is okay for a young child . . but as you age your body grows and it will need more of the stem cells than the umbilical cord can provide . . so in the case of an adolescent or adult . . there isn't enough of the cord blood. So . . there are some problems with it and people interested in banking the umbilical cord need to do the research and think about it . . it may be better to donate the umbilical cord blood rather than store it. Donate Cord Blood"

A3: midnightmoon62 replied: "http://www.bmtinfonet.org/webcastcord/ That is the link to a web cast that will be on 9/10/08 that will be discussing the updates of cord blood. It is from BMT Infonet (bmt stands for bone marrow transplant.. the site is a support site for transplant patients) I used 2 units of cord blood in my stem cell transplant, both from the public donation banks, so maybe I am biased. I think, or hope atleast, that the trend will go towards donating to the public banks. Private banking is expensive and it may never get used. Donating to the public bank, it is very likely that it will get used. I dont know that I would ever say I dont think you should be able to privatly bank, but if no one donated to the public bank, I wouldnt have been able to have my transplant. I do feel that all hospitals should be set up to atleast accept public donation. I also think that there should be some guidelines or even possibly laws that if the parent doesnt privatly bank, it goes to the public bank rather than the biowaste. I doubt insurance will cover private banking in the near future. That would drastically raise all women's insurance and maternity insurance. Unfortunatly, there isnt a whole lot of room for the prices to go down. I know its a lot, but its pretty much legit expense. I do know that my insurance (Medicare and Medicaid) paid for the blood bank services on my cord blood from the public bank."

A4: brainandspinalcord replied: "Umbilical cord blood banking is here to stay, but hopefully in the future accessibility will open up through donation banks. Many families do not have the financial means to pay for this "safety net" but for those who need it, donation can be a feasible route."

Padme S asked: "I was just wondering about cord blood banking. I would appreciate any opinions on it. What it is. Whose done it and how much it costs. I think it sounds great to do."

A1: EMB replied: "We have my son's cord blood stored at ViaCord. I think it was about 2,000 for the initial fee (collection and testing etc). I think we now pay $10 a month for storage. I was up in the air about whether or not we should do it. I then realized I would rather be safe than sorry. My friend's cousin passed away last year, he was only 10. The doctor's said if his cord blood was saved he would have lived....that scared me enough to do it!"

A2: icy5 replied: "i've never done it but im pregnant with my first child and i plan on doing it, its kinda expensive but its worth it because with your babies saved cord blood cells u could help cure a disease in the family, some families even go out and have another baby when their other child is sick to get the babies cord blood to save the other child's life. i would highly recommend it. for more info check this site Good Luck!!!"

A3: tammer replied: "About 2500, and then you pay the storage fees a year............ worth it."

A4: Alla P replied: "When I was pregnant, I was debating between the public storage and private storage. With the public storage its free, and you can acess it if you ever need it and no one used it up. At the same time I work at cancer institution and I see that now a double cord transplant is becomming quite popular, which means the public storage will be used twice more, therefore chances of your accessing your own cord blood are less. That is why if you can afford it, private bank it. if you cant, or this is your second child and no history of any diseases in the family, public store it."

Tallulah asked: "I see ads all over the place for companies that bank cord blood, but nothing about the average cost of this. Has anyone looked into it and know how much it costs typically?"

A1: lisaanndubay replied: "1500 bucks"

A2: Stephene V. Daytel F replied: "I think it's expensive up front, not sure exactly but I'm guessing $1200 to $2400, and then they charge you a storage fee of around $500 per year. Sorry I'm not exact, but you can request a brochure of some prices from several companies and compare. I think it's sad they'll let you donate your cord to someone else, (not that donating it is bad) but not keep it for your family free of charge. Take care!"

A3: Megan J replied: "We went with Viacord, the most cost is in the first year because of the collection and transport fee. The cost for the first year is $2,050. You don't have to pay again until next year and the cost is then $125/year to store the cord blood. You can pay in full up front, but they also offer a payment plan to break-up some of the payments over an extended period of time. It's one of those things, if you can afford it, it is a good thing to do. It's like an extra insurance plan, if something does come up in the future, you know you did everything in your power to protect your child from possibly treatable diseases. But it is a little controversial, exactly how much the cord blood can actually do to treat disease. I have done a little more research, and found that they do actual perform life-saving procedures in the U.S. using Cord Blood. "What the storage firms' promotions don't say is that the vast majority -- about 3,500 -- of cord blood stem cell transplants have been done using cells from unrelated donors from public banks. About 300 transplants have involved sibling donors while 14 have been done using a child's own cells, said Dr. John Wagner, Scientific Director of Clinical Research of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota." "Doctors say that if parents donate their children's cord blood to a public bank, there is a high probability it will be used. There are only about 20 public banks in the country but they can only work with a limited number of hospitals because receiving and processing the donations is expensive. A bill introduced in the Senate last October would expand public cord blood banking. ""

A4: Ama A replied: "I did a lot of research on this and it is about 1500-1800 a year depends on who you go with. They let you make monthly payments, but being an RN I was able to ask a lot of different Dr.s about their opinion about this and if they would recommend it, and all of them said no. There is no Dr at this time that would do this procedure, because there is not enough research to protect them if something bad happens. I called bonfils about donation and they said that they have so much that they just toss it. I also took care of a patient who had West Nile and was quad, and had been for about 6 years. When his daughter had a baby they wanted to use the cord blood to help him, I mean what did he have to loose and No Dr. in the USA would do it. So I decided it was not a good investment for our family. Sorry I know this is more info then what you asked for but hopefully it will help you to make a decision when you get all the info. good luck and God bless you!"

Helpforyou asked: "why we need to store cord blood, and the diseases which can be cured by the use of cord blood."

A1: alicia8802 replied: "its called a chord blood transplant..we use that to put in the baby or child to save he/shes life. the only reason why we do that is because of a condition that they got or that they were born with"

A2: Laura J replied: "cord blood is taken when a baby is born, this is taken from umbilical cord of a mother, i came across a very short article with good information about cord blood."

A3: Jeme replied: "I'll give an examples to explain: For instance, you have a child and freeze the cord blood cells from that child's umbilical cord. If that child develops leukemia, its own cord blood cells can be used in a transplant--no searching for an exact match donor because the cells are already available in advance. How it works: The patient is "chemo'd down" which kills off most of the malignant cells, then the transplant is done. The new cells that are transplanted hopefully grow fast and produce more new healthy cells... === My brother had two sons born in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, he was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). Had they saved the umbilical cords of the boys there would have been a possibility that the cord blood could have been used in a transplant to him when we found that none of us siblings was an exact tissue match for bone marrow transplant."

A4: AllKnowingHappyRastaman replied: "Leukemia is the big one...amazing story here of Eric Drew! "

White (The Cub is Here!) asked: "I have heard mixed opinions about this, and I don't know if we are going to keep ours or donate it so that later in life we can receive cord blood if need be. What's your take on this issue?"

A1: nextelfan25 replied: "I thinks it cool that you can keep the blood from the cord, it could help in situations way down the road."

A2: Due 1/24...it's a boy!!!!! replied: "Its very expensive to store cord blood, and may only help a very small percentage of people. If you can afford it, then I would go ahead and store it. But if not, donate it to someone who really needs it now. That's what we're going to do."

A3: midnightmoon62 replied: "I encourage most people to donate to the public bank. If you are in the US, you can get info on how to do so from the National Marrow Donors Program If you are in a different country search for your country's marrow program or email me to help you find it. Private banking is very expensive... about 2000 down and several hundred a year. Currently private banks are keeping the cord blood for 20 years, but we dont know if it is viable that long or not. The problem is that currently one cord blood unit is only enough to transplant a small child. Anyone larger than a small child would need 2 units. One birth, one unit. So if your child is say 13 when they get leukemia and need a stem cell transplant, most likely their one unit would not be enough, which would leave you going to the public bank to find a second matching unit (not always, sometimes one unit is big enough, and they are currently working on ways to make it big enough). Here is a link to a webcast by BMT Infonet (bmt stands for bone marrow transplant... the site is a support site for transplant patients) that will give some updates about cord blood... the webcast is on 9/10"

A4: kbn820 replied: "Please donate your baby's cord blood. There is no cost involved if you donate it and you could save someone's life. May daughter was saved by a single unit of cord blood (see my 'source' for our Thank You Letter to our donor). Saving it is only if you want to store it for your own possible future use (which is not worth the money or trouble). It is like buying an expensive lottery ticket. The chances that you could ever use it are so small. In fact, there is a good chance that the child you have will not be able to use it even if they do become ill because often the 'defect' in their blood or DNA that caused the illness is in the cord blood too. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics warns agains storing cord blood.) Info on donating: Also, know that this takes pre-planning. Most places can't get everything done they need to get done unless you start by your 34th week."