Cord Blood Banking

Cord blood banking is marketed as either blood donation on a higher scale (can be used to save someone else) or biological health insurance (stem cells to treat future diseases in your child). This article highlights the reasons why one family decided against it.


http://alternativebirthservices.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-cord-blood-banking-was-not-right.html

Nutshell:

• 75% of donated cord blood samples are too small for a transfusion and are sold for research into such things as cloning and biological weapons, and the donor's family has no say in this.
• Any genetic disease the child has which might be treated with stem cells will be present in the cord blood; thus, while it could be used for a sibling, it is ineffective for that child.
• Early clamping of the umbilical cord, which is required for banking, is harmful to the newborn baby, depriving him/her of up to half his/her total blood volume, taking up to six months to regenerate. Babies need that blood at birth - it isn't waste, it's there for a reason.