Deciding to have a child was a HUGE decision that I did not take lightly. I knew that making that decision would change our lives forever…but what I didn’t know was the other million decisions I would need to make BEFORE she was even born. What carseat do we get? How do we choose a pediatrician? Where will she sleep? Do we sleep train? What breast pump do I choose? How long of a maternity leave do I want to create for myself? It’s been a lot. My brain sometimes feels like it’s going to melt. But one of the easier decisions we made was deciding to preserve our little girl’s stem cells!
If you have never heard of cord blood (and cord tissue) banking before, I hadn’t either before I got pregnant. Then once I did, I had many people reach out to me and recommend it at birth. So I started to do some research and felt like it was a really good option for us. Cord blood is the the leftover blood in the umbilical cord after birth while cord tissue is the cord itself. Both contain stem cells that could be used in the future for different medical conditions. But the only time you can get these powerful stems cells is at birth. At birth, the OB or midwife will collect the cord blood, which is completely painless, and then it is sent to be cryogenically frozen and can be used for decades to come!
At this moment, cord blood stem cells can be used to help treat over 80 health conditions, like certain cancers and sickle cell anemia, but there has been progress towards even more! And cord tissue stem cells are showing a lot of promise in regenerative medicine! You really never know how these stem cells could help you and your family later on down the road.
When I started looking into cord blood banking, I immediately found the Cord Blood Registry, which is the #1 OB recommended family bank and the leader in the industry. And once I talked to a Certified Genetic Counselor through CBR about the process, I was sold. They made it incredibly easy to understand the process, they kept me in the know through email, and they walked me through any questions I had, no matter how many emails I sent.
And CBR makes the entire process super simple!
First you’ll enroll with CBR online or you can call to speak with a specialist to enroll.
CBR will ship you a collection kit.
You will bring your kit to the hospital when you deliver.
Once your baby is born and the cord blood and cord tissue has been collected by your OB or midwife, call the medical courier to pick up the kit.
CBR handles the rest and will notify you when the kit has been received.
That’s it!! It has been so incredibly easy and I’ve already packed the CBR kit in my hospital bag in case this little girl decides to greet us a little early. I can only hope that happens at this point…HA!
Like any new parent out there, I simply want to do what is best for our girl. And some things may be easier to decide than others, but this decision gives me peace of mind knowing we have access to her stem cells in case anything happens in the future. Sometimes I daydream about what her life will be like and I’ll think about some to the ups and downs she will go through, like getting picked on or made fun of or dealing with self confidence issues. You know, the things that you never forget as a human, even when you’re an adult. Those thoughts break my heart for her. But thinking about her dealing with medical issues breaks me into a million little pieces. Banking her cord blood and tissue with CBR makes me feel like I’ve been able to do at least one thing right from the start since I know I will misstep many times over once she’s actually here…like yelling at a child for making fun of my daughter. I KID, I KID…maybe.
This is such a personal decision for every family, but I think it’s important for families to know their options and the science to make an informed decision for their child. If you’re interested in hearing about personal stories of how CBR impacted different families lives, click here to read individual stories of hope! You can learn even more about CBR on their website cordblood.com and use code JULI to save big on their collection kit, processing, shipping, and first year of storage!
__________________
This post is brought to you by Cord Blood Registry. It may contain some affiliate links and I may be compensated for this post, but all opinions are my own. This compensation helps with expenses to keep this blog up and running! Thank you for all your support!
As a homebirth Mama of 4 and doula I did consider using a cord blood bank due to my autoimmune disease.. then I learned why it’s so incredibly important to allow thr cord blood to fully transfer to the newborn to prevent iron deficiency. My midwife strongly encouraged me to think the pros and cons over and ultimately we chose not to bank our cord blood with any of the kiddos. So excited for you on your new journey. Enjoy every sleepless moment.