Heard an ad on the radio this morning. WDYT? (Also, kind of icky)

laurenclaire1386 · January 2010

The ad was done by Lifeshare Blood Centers. The ad was about donating your umbilical cord after giving birth. The ad said that umbilical cord blood can be used to treat a variety of diseases such as sickle cell anemia and cancer. I've never heard of this or read any research on umbilical cord blood. The ad caught me off guard because "umbilical cord" isn't a phrase I hear on the radio often. Anybody heard anything about this?

My thoughts: I'm an organ donor. If something god awful, like a fatal car wreck, happened to me, I'd want whoever needed anything they could use of mine to have it, since I obviously won't be needing it any more. I feel the same way about an umbilical cord. I have no use for it, therefore, if giving to to science would help someone out, I'd do it.

shellydiane820 · January 2010

I guess they could have mine? Weeeird.

laurenclaire1386 · January 2010

I know! It was really weird! I kept thinking, "is this such as issue that they needed to pay for radio air time to advertise it?" I've just never in my life heard anything about this.

Catwoman708 · January 2010

I haven't really heard of donating umbiblical cords, specifically, but I do know they are used in stem cell research.

I seem to recall some kind of controversy that they were wanting to use, um... "discarded" umbiblical cords from abortion clinics or something.

Yes, it may be a distasteful subject, but if it can help further research, or help others, and done as ethically as possible, then I guess I'm for it.

Nebb · January 2010

Ive heard about this on the news lately. Mom's are saving the umbilical cords in some kind of... storage (im not sure about this part of it), but should something happen to the kid later or their brother or something it can be used. Apparently its not highly practiced but its similar to using stem cells or something.

I obviously pay close attention when I watch the news...

betrothed123 · January 2010

There are stem cells in the umbilical cord, so I'd assume that's where they are coming from. Yes, I've heard of this before.

shellydiane820 · January 2010

i wouldn't save my umbilical anything. gross. wouldn't it smell or something?

RaiKai · January 2010

Parents choosing to save "cord blood" is not that uncommon, as it can be extremely beneficial should the child ever get sick and need it in the future (i.e. if they get leukemia, etc).

I did not know it was donated though, as well, to others aside from stem cell research.

Nebb · January 2010

Hahah shelly, its kept in a cold storage in a sterile way, it doesnt hang out on a shelf.

laurenclaire1386 · January 2010

Maybe I'm a complete moron, but I honestly didn't know that umbilical cord blood contained stem cells.

shellydiane820 · January 2010

hahaha! okay...I figured it was something like that, but could you imagine going to someone's house and seeing that in the freezer...next to the peas.

"What the hell is this!?"

"Oh that's just Timmy's umbilical cord!"

danieliza1127 · January 2010

My best friend is a HUGE proponent of expectant moms saving cord blood. She did when she had her baby and tries to convince every other expectant mom she knows to do it. I didn't know you could donate it to others though. I would imagine I would rather keep it and bank it for my own child and not just donate and give it away. It costs about $2,000 to bank your cord blood.

kikibaby · January 2010

Yeah, shelley, pretty sure you don't just stick that puppy in your pantry.

I have also heard of people saving them. I think there's a possibility the blood can be used for treatment if the child develops certain cancers or other disorders.

I'm really tempted to google more about this at work, but I'm afraid of what my IT dept would think.

pooh8402 · January 2010

yea, I imagine it would still cost money to donate. storage is expensive. but I could still be wrong.

kiki, that's what Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes did when Suri was born. DISGUSTING! placentas are disgusting organs in general.

526SadieSadie · January 2010

The traditional way of getting cord blood is NOT from aborted fetuses. That's the conservative pro-life propaganda. The same way that the protesters that stand infront of clinics with those disgusting pictures is propaganda. Those pictures are taken from medical textbooks, they're NOT aborted babies, they're babies that had defects and died in-utero and had to be removed from the mother's uteran cavity. Those babies were wanted by their parents and died, they were not the result of a terminated pregnancy, they're miscarriages.
Saving the umbilical cord is a fantastic idea. If your child gets sick, what better to use than their own healthy cells to cure them?

jasmineh7777 · January 2010

Im a little late on this, but I wanted to throw my two cents in.
I did know about this, and I have known people who did not donate cord blood b/c they thought it was gross. (Lame reason.)
My Mom couldn't donate cord blood from my younger brother b/c my older brother had cancer.However she could have frozen it for a hefty fee, to be used is he ever needed it.
I think that saving itfor research (or storage ) should be mandatory. I really don't see any reason to just throw it away.

pooh8402 · January 2010

ehhh, I don't think it should be mandatory (it's not mandatory to donate blood, plasma, or a kidney, is it?), but I do think that the misconceptions should be cleared up (as seen on this thread), and the process should be easier and cheaper so that more people will donate.

baby green bird · January 2010

of course i have heard about it, and i am surprised if someone has not. yes i would donate. it seems to me to be a simple way to make difference in society.

Heard an ad on the radio this morning. WDYT? (Also, kind of icky)

Re: Heard an ad on the radio this morning. WDYT? (Also, kind of icky)

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