• The Tooth Fairy might soon be out of business if more parents catch on to the potentially lifesaving benefits of banking their child’s baby teeth. Some families are counting on this new kind of medical insurance sitting right there in their kid’s two front teeth, which contain stem cells that could possibly someday be used for future treatment of serious medical issues. Continue reading »

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Cord blood to be banked is done immediately following the birth of a baby

Pregnancy can be an overwhelming time for countless reasons, not the least of which are the expenses associated with prenatal care, and then, of course, the inevitable expenses associated with child rearing.

When I was carrying my daughter, I was quite aware of the costs of both and it often kept me up at night. So when I started receiving literature about banking my baby’s cord blood from my doctor’s office and saw how much it cost, it only added to my sleeplessness. I had no doubt it could be a worthy investment, but it was coming at a time when we were being socked with so many other bills. It took a while to decide, but my husband and I ultimately opted to bank our daughter’s cord blood at birth. And when I come across stories like the one I read this morning, I know we made the right decision.

Baby Harlow was born to Jamie and Ben Page in 2008 and seemed to be healthy for the first couple of weeks. But then she started crying a lot and seemed uncomfortable, and then her condition worsened. At three months old, Harlow’s stomach became distended and her diapers were turning up dry. As it turns out, a grapefruit-sized mass was blocking her kidney.

Continue reading »

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Whether or not to bank your baby’s cord blood is the latest decision put to expectant parents as pregnancy and birth become increasingly technically complicated.  On the one hand, many sick children have been successfully treated through stem cell transplants from siblings’ cord blood.  On the other, cord blood collection and banking can be an expensive prospect.

Now there looks to be a new choice on the horizon.  Continue reading »

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Today on Babble.

“To Bank or Not to Bank”

By Ellen Friedrichs.

I saved my first child’s cord blood. Should I do the same for my second?

Read it here.

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