Another one for mums 2 be - Stem Cell Collection

morg_monster

I read something interesting online which got me thinking.. basically the idea was "if cord blood is so brilliant, why are we denying it to our newborn babies?" - basically from someone who was into the whole thing where you don't clamp the cord but deliver the placenta and leave the baby attached to it for a little while, after half an hour or so the cord has shrunk and much of the blood is now in the baby.
I think this is what Crispy Ambulance was referring to above, rather than comparing to the standard cord-clamping/cutting.

obviously the baby doesn't get the blood whether you clamp the cord immediately after birth (as is standard practice) or take the cord blood for storage, but it did strike a chord with me (no pun intended).

Of course there are those that go all the way and wrap the placenta in a cloth, and carry it around with baby for the first few days of life until the cord drops off of its own accord! Then they bury the placenta in the garden and plant a tree over it or something!!!!!!!!

Crispy_Ambulance

There are basically 2 choices when it comes to the third stage of labour (delivery of the placenta), either natural or managed.

Natural means waiting until the cord has stopped pulsing before cutting it and allowing the baby to continue to receive oxygenated blood. Then the midwife watches and waits until the placenta detaches naturally and is born, usually in one contraction.

Managed means that the mother is given an injection of syntometrine as the shoulders are born. The cord is clamped and cut immediately and the uterus contracts a few minutes later and the midwife pulls on the cord to get the placenta out.

There are pros and cons to both - managed is quicker, but syntometrine can cause nausea and it increases the risk of retained placenta and needing to have it removed in theatre. Natural means no drugs but it takes a bit longer. There are suggestions that natural means an increased risk of haemorrhage, but as far as I am aware, that risk is minimal, and possibly not backed up by recent studies. Natural also means that the baby gets the exact amount of blood that nature intended it to get.

If a mother has had interventions in her labour, eg been induced, then it isn't usually considered safe to have a natural third stage.

However, if you are wanting to harvest cord blood, I would assume the cord would have to be cut asap so that it contained all the blood? Therefore the baby doesn't get it?

Fen1

Hello.
Just to let you know that the blood services are also collecting donated cord blood from certain hospitals, so even if you cannot afford to store the blood for yourself, or think you might not need it, you can still donate it. Please consider this option: donation costs nothing to you but means life to someone else.
Please look at the following link for more info:
http://www.blood.co.uk/pages/cord_blood.html

benood

Sorry I didn't realise you were talking about different ways of delivering the placenta - I don't think it would matter that much to wait, the cord blood is sent to be frozen by courier at room temp, so clotting is the main concern from memory but obviously check it's ok beforehand.

mustbemad

My son was dx with Infant ALL (leukaemia) in 2005.

I wish my son's oncology team had advised us of the possiblity of collecting our newborns cord blood when I was pg last year :sad: I didnt hear anything about stem cells until afterwards, but if I had known I would have gone for it! Its expensive but in a situation like ours where the need for a bone marrow transplant is a distinct possiblity, it would have been worth the expense. I guess there are no guarantees about the sibling being a match anyway, only 1 in 4 are.

MBM xx

benood

I've pm'd you MBM.

tiamai_d

Crispy Ambulance, I remember getting the injection after my son was delivered. Only reason I am sure is that I was in stirrups to deliver him (by vontuse) then he was whisked away to be ventilated and my legs were back on the bed when I was jabbed. Placenta came out right away.

So is it that jab that makes you vomit not long after you give birth?

Sorry to jump on the thread, just interested!

Interesting thread too.

Chunters_a_lot

My experience is that when I was expecting my twins a hospital in my region was doing a research project to which I was asked to donate some cord blood.

I have not looked into it a great deal but I seem to remember the research coordinator telling me that I would would retain access to it, if needed. Really need to check out if that is the case of just a memory from my pregnancy brain

I did not know about cord blood before being asked to take part in this research so I can not tell you what my decision would have been if there was a large cost involved.