Donating Cord Blood to Public Bank...Now What?

You have made the decision to donate your baby's cord blood to a public bank, now what do you need to know and do?  First off', public cord blood banks are held to certain standards and therefore donations can be rejected.  Talk to your doctor to determine whether you are eligible to donate.  If you are leigible,  make sure thatyour doctor is willing and able to collect the cord blood.  You will also need to check with the facility where the birth is to take place as to whether they participate in the national cord blood collection program.  If your hospital doesn't participate, and many do not, there are still options available to you.  Find out what the options are in your area at parentsguidecordblood.org.  Lastly, remind the hospital staff during labor and delivery that you are donating the cord blood.  This may be a good job to delegate to your coach, as you may be preoccupied at that time.

"Too Posh To Push" Crowd and Elective C-Sections

Britain, where the government provides free health care, will soon be allowing pregnant women to choose to have a C-section even if there is no medical need for it. This option has been available for a while now to the wealthy, including celebrities like Madonna and Victoria Beckham. They are members of the so called "too posh to push" crowd.

I am concerned that even one woman would choose to have this surgery when it is not medically warranted. There are many more risks to you and your baby when having this surgical procedure. There could be unforseen complications during and after the surgery. Even if everything goes as planned, some things to think about when making this decision are: risk of infection and bleeding associated with any surgery, potential problems with future pregnancies, the recovery time for a C-section far exceeds the recovery time of a vaginal delivery and the scar that will adorn your stomach for all time.

This change in policy may come at a fairly high price tag. C-sections cost about 800 pounds (that's $1,280 American dollars) more than a vaginal birth. In an already struggling British economy this may just break the bank. It is widely believed that only a small percentage of women will elect to have this surgery to avoid labor and other unpleasant effects related to child birth and therefore it will not put an undo strain on the economy. I guess only time will tell what the economic effect will be.

Making the decision on whether to have a C-section birth or a vaginal birth should always be based on what is best for baby and mother. For those women who do have a medical need for this surgery, it is relatively safe, I just don't believe that anyone should have surgery unless it is necessary.