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Educate Yourself
Making the decision to bank a newborn’s umbilical cord blood is a big step, but ultimately is only half of the complete decision. The other part of the decision – deciding which bank to use ? is just as important as deciding to bank it in the first place.
When it comes to making this decision, it is important to fully educate yourself about which banks are most reputable and trustworthy. The fact is that many banks can be trusted to properly deal with you and the blood, but there have been documented cases in which there have been improprieties at some banks as well. You need to know which questions to ask to be able to understand which bank to use.
Some of the questions you may want to ask or find out about the blood bank are:
What kind of use does the company bank for?
There are different uses for which some companies will bank. It is important to know which uses the company will bank for before you place the blood in the bank. If it is important to you that the blood be available to other family members at some potential time in the future, there are certain types of testing that need to be run before the blood is stored.If the bank you choose fails to do this testing, then the blood is banked autonomously. This means that only the child from whose cord it was collected can use the blood in the future. Other family members – such as parents and siblings – would be excluded. You want to specifically make sure that the bank will bank for autologous as well as family use.
Is the bank accredited?
Just as accreditation is important for somebody choosing a college, it is also important (maybe even more so) to somebody choosing a blood bank. The American Association of Blood Banks performs the accreditation process and rewards those banks that qualify with accreditation. Having accreditation from AABB means the bank adheres to the stringent standards applied to the specialized processing of hematopoietic stem cells. In order to receive this recognition, the bank must have its laboratory as well as its administrative procedures reviewed, inspected, and validated.Although banks can legally operate with general accreditation, those banks that have been accredited by the AABB are most often the best-run companies.
Are there case studies to be examined?
If you feel you have a special situation and you want to know that the bank has experience in dealing with your issue, you may want to do more than simply ask them if they know what they are doing. For best results, inquire about documented case studies or reports prepared that show that they are familiar with your specific situation.You also could ask for references of those who have dealt with the same issue at the same bank. Due to confidentiality requirements, the bank probably will not be able to offer you contact information, but they could get in touch with a former donor for you and ask that donor to get in touch with you.
If the bank balks at providing you the information you request, there are likely going to be other banks that will readily provide you the information. Because the decision to bank blood requires a big emotional and financial investment, it is important to ask the right questions to make sure you understand exactly what it is that you are getting for your investment.
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