Stem cell storage - your baby's ultimate health insurance?

Discussion in 'Pregnancy & Labor' started by cheer, Apr 30, 2007.

  1. dubbi

    dubbi Bronze IL'ite

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    Re: LIFECELL - Cord Blood/ Stem Cells

    I recently attended a seminar about cord blood banking and Jeevan which is a public cord blood bank presented the whole topic and I had a lot of doubts cleared by its medical director Dr.Saranya.

    Jeevan does both public and pvt banking and can you imagine that there are willing to give stem cells which matches to people who cant afford it but need it free of cost. They are working with cancer institute and lot of other organisations with a socaial cause of treating mostly children who cannot afford but need stem cell therapy.

    Thats where donors come in. If you dont want to store cord blood of your baby you can donate it to Jeevan which will retrieve stem cells from the coed blood and use it on need basis to people suffering from thalesemmia and also leukaemia ( earlier bone marrow was used today if stem cells match they are preferred). The cord blood donated by the wetern countries is much more so the chance of a person of western origin needing a match and getting one is much higher than of an Asian counterpart where donation is very less due to awareness and stigma.

    If a need of a particular HLA ( lets call it blue print of stem cell) arises a world wide search can be conducted and a match found. If it has to be imported from North America the total coat would be 50 Lakhs but if a match if found locally it would cost between 1 to 1.5 lakhs. This can happen only if donation happens. The cord blood is collected from the cord after it has been clamped and cut and mostly thrown away by hospitals. As Childbirth educators we advocate delayed cord clamping which enables the baby to get it supply of RBCs. delay till the cord stops pulsating or atleast 1 - 2 minutes after birth before cord is clamped. I believe Cord blood can still be banked after delayed cord clamping, this is possible and has been done in Mumbai and Delhi.

    Lifcell and other companies are private only banks whereas Jeevan is a public and pvt bank which can be use to the society also. If you need to store your baby's cord blood for future use, they also do private banking but their main focus is to increase cord blood donation so as to make the asian community have more access at much lesser costs.

    Deepa
     
  2. Abhirami

    Abhirami New IL'ite

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    Stem cell banking

    Has anyone done it in India? what were your experiences? How much did you have to pay? Also what were the factors that made you choose one company over the other?

    One of my friends is pregnant and seriously considering stem cell banking. But not able to find much info online about people who have actually gone through the process. Thanks in advance!
     
  3. sneha44

    sneha44 New IL'ite

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    Re: Stem cell banking

    Hi Dear
    one of my friend Enquired about it you have to pay Rs 60000/- security deposit and in india it is not so familiar .I think the Lab is only in Banglore .

    All the Best !
     
  4. dubbi

    dubbi Bronze IL'ite

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    Re: Stem cell banking

    HI

    Look at this thread' previous posts.

    I think it costs around 70 to 80 K with different EMI options for different companies

    Deepa
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 29, 2009
  5. sumanr

    sumanr Silver IL'ite

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    Re: LIFECELL - Cord Blood/ Stem Cells

    Hi

    Lifecell is very prevalant in Chennai as well and I have had some friends who have done stem cell banking with them. Cost is around 75K. Lifecell does only private banking (they store it for 18/20 years) and you may need to renew it after that.

    I have also heard about Jeevan, which offers both private and public banking. Cost for private is almost the same. But for public there is no payment. They still store the stem cells for 21 years and when you need it , you will have to pay. But since it is public, there is no guarantee that the cells will be available when you want.
     
  6. gomathi123

    gomathi123 New IL'ite

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    Re: how many of us have saved the umbilical cord of our children??

    Hi , am expecting my first baby by mid of december 2009.
    Am in the US currently , and seriously thinking abt banking my baby's cord blood.
    But i do have the following concerns, which might sound very silly..

    1. if i plan to move back to india , or moving to other parts of the world, say europe etc.., will this cord blood which is stored in arizona US, be available to me, when i need em immediately. will any time delays involved in transfer cause my cord blood ineffective.

    2. can i have the cord blood transfered from one private bank to another bank ....based on my comfort within the 21 years.
    can i get it transfered from US to India within the course of 21 years

    3. once the cord blood is used, is it fully used.? or is there a portion of cord blood that is sent back for preservation and further use in the future.



    Thanks
    Goms
     
  7. lavii

    lavii Gold IL'ite

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    Re: how many of us have saved the umbilical cord of our children??

    honestly was greek and latin to me till i have seen beautiful explanation by vanathi...thanks
     
  8. Nandshyam

    Nandshyam IL Hall of Fame

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    Re: how many of us have saved the umbilical cord of our children??

    My exact thoughts and I feel so bad that I did not thank her nor come to this thread :-(

    Thanks a bunch Vanathi !!.. U are Awesome !!
     
  9. AbhiSing

    AbhiSing Gold IL'ite

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    Re: how many of us have saved the umbilical cord of our children??


    Dear Vanathi

    What a crisp and clear explanation in layman terms:thumbsup:thumbsup. Kudos!!
     
  10. MonB

    MonB New IL'ite

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    Cord Blood Banks Question?

    Hi All, Did any one of you went for Cord Blood Banking? If so which Bank have you gone with? I am thinking of saving cord blood for my new born ( due in April) , so need information about its benifits and which bank/company to choose with the balance of price and quality of work.
     

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