Can we really trust the NHS?

Hi everyone,

I’m a little annoyed at some recent findings and hope you will help give me some additional perspective…

I went to a pregnancy event (pregsense) last week and spoke to some people from a stem cell bank called Stemology Cord Freezing.

Now I’m not one to make a fuss in general but I’m shocked that I hadn’t heard about umbilical cord stem cells from my GP or midwife. I’m wondering if I didn’t know about this then who else is missing out on this vital information?

Now I can understand that many of you may be in the same boat I was in when I was speaking to stemology (clueless in case you were wondering!) – but they really helped me understand the nature

of the cells, the process and answered all the questions I could think of! So ideally I’d say if you have any questions on the service itself, contact Stemology as I have only just learnt about it and don’t want to give out any wrong advice. You can find them by searching “Stemology Freezing” on Google. The more I read into it, the more set I am on storing with them.

I guess the main question of my post/rant is: How many of you knew about it when you gave birth?

What really got me was that it’s been happening around the world for years and happens in loads of European countries but not here. And for no reason that I can think of…. Its risk free so why wouldn’t the NHS be doing this as standard practice rather than throwing umbilical cords away??

With a little research I found that there are 2 avenues to do this publicly (NHSBT and Anthony Nolan Trust) – but more than 70% of public samples are used for medical research, not treating someone else. Also they only collect in a handful of hospitals, nowhere near where I plan to give birth.

From the sounds of things there are a few options:

1. Cord gets thrown away – same as what has been happening for generations and is like throwing medicine down the drain

2. Cord gets Donated – where apparently over 70% goes to medical research and the remainder to a sort of public storage facility where it can be used worldwide to treat other people – only available in a few places in London

3. Cord is stored privately – this is the route I’m going down. Wasn’t too keen on the idea of medical research rather than being used to help people. Plus I figure after 25 years I can always donate it if I haven’t used it.

I have already decided on a water birth and delayed cord clamping and am happy that everything can be done together and I’m not having to change a thing. So that’s another plus point for saving my stem cells!

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