Cord Blood Registry? - Page 2

FullOfThought · #16 Jun 28, '12, 4:52 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by whiteyacht

I voted no, but that's because I believe it is extremely beneficial to delay cord clamping. So there isn't really anything left to donate!

Really? How interesting! Can you explain a bit more please?

whiteyacht · #17 Jun 28, '12, 7:25 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by FullOfThought

Really? How interesting! Can you explain a bit more please?

Sure.

Basically, you let the cord blood flow into the newborn so they get the benefits of the stem cells, iron stores, etc. I searched "delayed cord clamping" to find a good article, but there were too many from which to choose!

jliss · #18 Jun 28, '12, 10:21 am

There is nothing wrong with delaying cord clamping but you could also argue that there is nothing right either. No study has ever shown that babies with delayed cord clamping thrive more, grow bigger, get smarter, are better behaved etc, than those that do not receive the extra umbilical blood. Only a tiny percentage of babies have delayed cord clamping and the rest seem to do fine as well. However, by doing this, you lose the opportunity to store cord blood stem cells for potential future use. It is good to read both sides of the issue. You may want to down load a free booklet about cord blood that is available at www.stork.md and also read about cord blood clamping as well. Fortunately, they are pleasant choices. A parent can feel good about one-self with either decision.

sweetpetunia · #19 Jun 29, '12, 5:41 pm

There are actually drawbacks to delayed clamping, too. As with everything, you have to weigh cost and benefit. Here is some info from the WHO on studies of the effect of timing on umbilical cord clamping:

Physiological studies have shown that there is a transfer from the placenta of about 80 ml of blood at 1 minute after birth, reaching about 100 ml at 3 minutes after birth (1, 2). These additional volumes of blood can supply extra iron amounting to 40–50 mg/kg of body weight. When this extra iron is added to the approximately 75 mg/kg of body iron that a full-term newborn is born with, the total amount of iron can reach 115–125 mg/kg of body weight, which may help prevent iron deficiency during the first year of life (3). On the other hand, there is also evidence to suggest that delayed umbilical cord clamping and cutting may put newborns at a higher risk of polycythemia, hyperbilirubinemia, and other neonatal disorders.

http://apps.who.int/rhl/pregnancy_ch.../en/index.html

jliss · #20 Jun 29, '12, 7:10 pm

Those are very reasonable statements. However, I think the larger point is that children with delayed cord clamping do not have long term benefits over children whose umbilical cord blood was collected for storage. For this reason, I think it makes sense to clamp the cord and collect the stem cells for future use, if you believe in cord blood stem cell science.