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This is the process for donation to the public bank, Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB). Information taken from Singapore Cord Blood Bank (http://www.scbb.com.sg/donate/process/Pages/Home.aspx) To donate to SCBB, you will first need to speak to your ObGyn to indicate your intention to donate cord blood. The attending ObGyn will be able to provide more information on the procedure and whether it is advisable for the mother to donate based on her condition. Inform SCBB (tel: 6394 5011) after 32 weeks for a pre-screening. This pre-screening will be conducted face-to-face or over the phone. Questions asked will be pertaining to family medical history, lifestyle and sexual history to help ascertain donor suitability. Once the established criteria for donation are met, the expectant parents will be scheduled to meet the SCBB nurse coordinator to give their informed consent. A counseling session for the mother will also be arranged to ensure that she fully understand the process of donation. The signed Volunteer and Informed Consent Form must be produced to the hospital’s Delivery Suite / Labour Room to inform the Hospital Delivery Staff that the mother wishes to be an SCBB Cord Blood Donor. When the expectant mother goes into labour, the mother will be asked to affirm and sign the forms again. There will be a collection of (~30ml) of blood sample from the mother before delivery. After the baby is delivered, the umbilical cord is clamped and cut, the cord blood will be collected before the placenta is delivered. For more details: http://www.scbb.com.sg/donate/process/Pages/Home.aspx The expectant parents can donate at nine hospitals, including KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, National University Hospital, Singapore General Hospital, Mount Alvernia Hospital and Thomson Medical Centre. The procedure will be performed by their respective ObGyn.
I donated my babies' cord blood with SCBB too. The processes of donation has been mentioned in detailed by Mummy Hui Qun above. I would like to share my experiences of cord blood donation process. I delivered in NUH and there is a lady designated at NUH O&B clinic and thus the meet-up is quite hassle-free (normally it's after my consultation with gynae). After I indicated I wish to donate my baby's cord blood with gynae, the officer will approach me and do a survey questionnaire on my family medical history to see if I am eligible. It's very important to clarify your doubts during the discussion e.g. you can ask about why cord blood banking is not feasible, what will be done to the baby's cord blood in case it is not usable after the collection and etc. You will sign on a consent form and that's it. During the delivery, nurse will draw a tube of blood for the cord blood donation screening. It is quite sad that both of my kids' cord blood were not usable and has to be discarded/used for research studies, as the amount of the stem cells collected during birth were not sufficient. If you baby's cord blood has been successfully banked into SCBB, you will receive a Thank You card from SCBB as a notification. If the cord blood is not usable, you will not be receiving anything from SCBB.
Dear mummy Rose, I have this question too on whether to donate or keep in private cord blood bank. After I did some research and studies, I find the success rate of stem cells in curing diseases are still not very high. Also, let say if the baby has chronic disease after birth, it means the stem cell itself is not as healthy too. To cure a disease, it needs a very large amount of stem cells. The amount of stem cells drew during birth is too little to be used. Just like my babies' case, where the amount of stem cells were not sufficient and rejected to be banked in SCBB. Even if the stem cell is usable, the operation fees is huge. Since both me and my husband doesn't has family medical history of critical illness, we decided to donate to help more people in case they really need it.
Rose, we chose not to bank since there isn't that much evidence that these stemcells will be of much use for your child. Maybe this will change with research in the future, so we understand anybody who takes this as an insurance policy that hopefully will never be necessary. We would hope to support current research to make that happen.
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Why did you choose to donate the cord blood vs bank it privately?
thanks