Cord blood banking - buyer beware!

Hi All

You remember we were discussing the pros and cons of cord blood banking some time back?

I did some googling and came up with a scenario which sounded pretty horrifying in terms of the amount of foetal blood collected, when measured against the blood volume of the newborn, ie it sounded like the newborn was being robbed of placental and cord blood which would otherwise would have been pumped into the newborn by the contracting uterus compressing the placenta.

I just had a conversation with a very old friend who is in charge of maternal and newborn health at one of our big government maternity hospitals, so I can now fill you in with what happens in Western Australia. This is one scenario. The rest of Australia is possibly different. The rest of the world is probably different, but the principles are the same.

Foetal blood, cord blood, call it what you like was touted a few years ago to be the magic bullet source of stem cells for treating cancer. There were plans for a statewide cord blood bank so that people could have their baby's cord blood banked for future use, either by the baby or by others, if necessary, later in life. Since then there have been other developments in making stem cells (the needed cell type) from other kinds of tissue, so the whole cord blood bank never got off the ground in Western Australia.

There is a company in Australia called Cryosite, which operates a private cord blood bank. They have their own protocols and procedures. They charge $2000 to collect cord blood, for no certainty of benefit for the baby or anybody else. My friend told me that the baby's own foetal blood cells would be the last cells to be transfused back if the baby later developed cancer, because these cells turn malignant anyway.

I have not been in touch with Cryosite to find out what they do, and if the newborn's blood supply is compromised by their collection methods, which is the scenario I was thinking about, with early clamping and 60-150ml of cord blood collected, before the cord stops pulsating. The average 3.1kg newborn only has a blood volume of 286ml, so it is possible that collecting up to 150ml of cord blood with early clamping could be depriving the newborn of a *significant but not life-threatening* portion of potential blood supply,

NB. *without accounting for residual blood remaining in the placenta and cord after the placenta stops pumping blood and is birthed.*

That was what was giving me the heebie jeebies about cord blood banking, but it may not be accurate. Cryosite has no link with government hospitals. There is no requirement to donate cord blood. They are just a private company offering a very expensive service in the marketplace of people with too much money.

There has been talk of a national cord blood bank but my friend said it is unlikely to get off the ground for the same reasons that the Western Australian cord blood bank died.

The interesting thing is that there is no research evidence to show that significant blood is transfused into the baby from the placenta and cord after the baby is birthed. This man is at the top. He would know if the research had been done. He would have no reason to tell me otherwise. His hospital has just received A$2.5 million to properly research how much blood really is transfused from placenta and cord after birth in premature babies. I was surprised, but equally unsurprised at the lack of research data. Let's hope they come up with some good results that will mean better outcomes for babies and peace of mind for mothers who give birth and experience early clamping and worry about the effect on their babies.

I would guess that in the USA it is all a private enterprise affair, with companies touting their expensive cord blood banking for dubious returns. I wonder what happens in the UK and Europe?

I would say, "Buyer beware." $2000 invested at the time of birth of a baby would pay for a moderated wedding celebration 25 years later! I'd rather enjoy the party than make a dubious $2000 investment at birth.

I am so relieved to have come up with this information. It was really eating away at me.

Hope somebody else will be motivated to check out exactly what happens locally, how cord blood is collected, clamping time, if it is collected before placenta delivery, and even the height of collection bag in relation to the uterus, before they sink their hard-earned $2000 into now out-dated technology for doubtful benefit.

Cheers

Louise