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Oh Baby! Magazine brought together its network of mothers and families for a Facebook Party on March 26. The party was a discussion where families could weigh in on popular parenting, pregnancy, or health related topics to help gather or provide advice.
The party was sponsored by many affiliated organizations, including Insception Lifebank. Sponsors provided questions to post to the discussion, and followers could offer comments or follow up with more questions to build the conversation.
Insception Lifebank’s sponsored question was ‘Do you know the difference between donating cord blood versus family banking?’ And ‘would you consider banking your baby’s cord blood?’
The responses hit a number of recurring points specifically that many people don’t know the difference between donor vs. family cord blood banking. The cost of cord blood banking was also a shared concern as many families worried that their budgets outweighed the benefits of cord blood banking.
Due to the number of valid points, we decided to provide more detailed information about cord blood, compare the differences between donor vs. family options, and how to make cord blood banking more affordable.
1. Benefits of Cord Blood Banking
Cord blood is a valuable source of stem cells that are easily obtainable following the birth of your baby
Cord blood can be used to provide therapy for up to 75 different illnesses or conditions including leukaemia, cerebral palsy, Type 1 Diabetes, cerebral palsy, and many others
Cord blood stem cell transplants have greater chances of success as the stem cells are a perfect genetic match to your baby whenever necessary
However, cord blood can also be used to help other family members whose genetics don’t perfectly match the banked sample
2. Public vs. Private Cord Blood Banking
The Canadian donor cord blood banking program was established last fall, providing families an option to donate instead of bank their baby’s cord blood
But donor banks accept only half of all cord blood samples donated to the program, whereas family banks store up to 98 percent of all collected samples
The donor program is also limited to a few hospitals sporadically located across Canada
Family programs, on the other hand partner with multiple hospitals to help provide families as many choices as possible
3. Payment Plans
Cord blood banking typically carries an annual storage fee that ranges between $100 and $125 with most family cord blood banks
There are also many onetime costs at the time of the cord blood collection, such as the cost of the collection kit, enrollment into the program, and upfront storage fees
But many payment plans are available to families, which spread out the cost of cord blood banking over a longer period of time
There are multiple versions of these plans that address the needs of families in various financial situations, which allow households to make decisions that are in the best interests of the baby with less strain on the budget
4. Parent Education Sessions
Cord blood is still a relatively new concept for many families, who obviously have many questions
This is why Insception Lifebank hosts special educational events for parents at allocated dates and times
Many of these sessions are done online for the convenience of Canadians
But there are also in person sessions at various hospitals throughout the year, and families can set time aside on their schedules by checking when these events are available
If you want to learn more about cord blood, you can also visit Insception Lifebank’s social media channels as well as submit inquiries to specialists who can help explain more about cord blood in greater detail. Parenting is all about promises to protect the health and wellbeing of your baby, and learning more about the benefits of cord blood banking can help you fulfill that promise.