mgul003

Hi,

We are moving to sydney in the month of October and I would be having my baby in the month of Jan 2010.

We are planning to save the Umblical Cord blood during pregnancy and have it saved at some Cord blood bank?

Can anyone please advice which hospitals in sydney are authorised for this??? and is the covered as part of the Medicare or do we have to spend the money on our own..

Thank you

moneypenny20

I've never heard of it and can't help you, just interested in why? What are the benefits? etc etc

Sammy T

Hi

I work as a midwife in a private unit and any of our ladies can have cord blood stored if they wish, it can be arranged quite easily but is very expensive so we don't come across it very often. I don't know the exact costs but I remember asking one woman about it, they paid about $3000 for the collection and processing and there was a fee annually for the storage. The collection box is sent either direct to the woman or the obstetrician and it is collected after delivery and sent by courier to the lab.

It is not even covered by private health insurance and as far as I'm aware definitely not covered by Medicare. I'm not recommending any of these companies but they are some of the main ones operating in Oz. look into this very carefully as there have been cases of parent spending a large amount of money with labs that do not store cells correctly etc and there is still controversy over whole subject.

www.abmdr.org.au (for donating cord blood)

www.cellsense.com.au

www.biocell.com.au

www.stemlife.com.au


Sam

DownUnderPaddy

I don't believe that it is covered under medicare.

If you are collecting for your own use, my understanding is that you will need to use the services of one of the 4 private companies that covers Australia.

• http://www.biocell.com.au/
• http://www.cellsense.com.au/
• http://www.cryosite.com/
• http://www.stemlife.com.au

Ref : http://www.bubhub.com.au/servicescordblood.php

moneypenny20

Interesting. Just had a quick read of the last link and they show this for Sydney: http://www.sch.edu.au/departments/acbb/

DownUnderPaddy

Yes, but I do not believe that is for private, own use.
"The network collects and banks cord blood from voluntary donors for anonymous use by patients needing a stem cell transplant."

Pollyana

Given that people from the UK cannot donate blood here anyway, they probably wouldn't accpt cord blood.

moneypenny20

I did say it was a quick look I guess the UK blood question doesn't count if you're keeping it for personal use

Pollyana

Mmmmm, thats possible. Not something I'd heard of before, so I'm just specualting

plantpot

Really? Why? Ever?

plantpot

I found out why...

I CAN’T GIVE BLOOD AS I LIVED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR SIX MONTHS DURING THE PERIOD 1980-1996. WHEN WILL A TEST FOR VCJD BE DEVELOPED?

Although the number of cases of vCJD (the human form of 'mad cow disease') in the UK is declining, in the absence of a screening test, the full extent of exposure is not known.
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service is monitoring progress in the development of a reliable blood screening test for vCJD. Should this deferral policy be changed for any reason, please be assured that this information will be disseminated widely.

So even if you were a vegetarian?

moneypenny20

Because if you lived in the UK between mid 80s and early 90s you have contaminated blood from mad cow disease and Australia doesn't want it.

plantpot

ooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkk

I see.....

and I just saw this:

Unfortunately, because of the extensive time period covered by the deferral and the possibility of unknowing exposure to beef or beef products, it is not possible to exempt vegetarians who have resided in the UK for a cumulative period of six months or more during the risk years.

What about vegans then lol?

moneypenny20

Tough basically. There's no way they can prove they've never eaten meat during that time You can donate organs though. They can wash them

plantpot

Spose I can donate my contaminated blood to other cjd types in the UK....