There are some things in life that I do not agree upon. One of them is to buy life insurance for my children. And I see Cord Blood banking as such. No matter how a person tries to convince me, I will never take that step of ‘doing something with fear in mind’.

I like to see life and death as an act of God. I do not see enough successful cases where a life of a person is saved by their Cord blood to convince me that this works. Now, there is evidence that it may not work the way we think.

Doctors have raised concern companies were playing on patients’ fears.

Professor Peter Braude, head of the Department of Women’s Health at King’s College London and Chair of the RCOG expert group, said: “We have had a huge amount of commercial companies offering cord blood storage to parents and medical practitioners wanted guidance on the validity of some of the advertising claims.

“The likelihood of use is extremely small and some of the uses are extremely speculative.

“Most people are unaware there is an NHS cord blood bank and most transplants are done with bone marrow.

“Trusts should have a clear policy about what they will and will not allow.

“We can find no evidence to suggest it [private banking] is a particularly good idea.”

If a trust decides to let parents collect cord blood to be stored privately, the college recommends that there should be no change in the usual management of birth.

Doctors and midwives should not take part in collection as it could be dangerous to direct their attention away from the mother and baby.

Read the full story here.

Of course, parents ought to do whatever they can afford for their children and storing the cord blood is certainly the very first step towards ensuring a more secured future. But for me, I do not want to be cowed into something by some parties using fear tactics.

Originally posted 2006-06-14 01:01:11.