Cord Blood Banking
March 11, 2012
Hi lovelies,
Nak share sikit about Cord Blood (CB) Banking. I think many of us have heard of it. Mungkin penah dengar but not very familiar with it.. right? For those yang tengok TV3 petang tadi maybe bleh dapat some idea on CB Banking sbb ade special program on CryoCord. Anyway, heard of CB or Stem Cells Banking few years ago. Masa tue I slalu accompanied my sis pegi TMC, kat situ laa I dok collect pamphlet pasal ni. But then masa tue still bujang trang tang tang, so takdelaa nak take it very serious. Did some readings back then tapi udah dilupekan sampailaa I got pregnant.
Well, I know there are many contradicting views regarding CB Banking i.e. the purpose and benefits of it. Some people are really against it (I believe they have their own reasons). Even so, I personally think that there is no harm in investing a bit for your children future. Sama jugak konsepnye dengan insurance. Bukan semua orang perlukan insurance, but it can be a gold dime when you really need it! If you can understand the whole concept of it, you’ll know it’s not just a commercial hype. There are proven cases where cord blood transplant can be used effectively in treating genetic, hematologic, immunologic, metabolic and oncologic disorders. Definitely there are pros and cons to consider, so it’s all up to you when it comes to the decision making :)
Kita bukannya nak berharap anak kita sakit tapi at least we have options in case ‘thing’ happens. Am I right? Well, I have a colleague whom his daughter suffered from Thalassemia and currently waiting for matching bone marrow to undergo transplant. The procedures are more complicated than using CB and the cost will definitely cost a bomb! Since itu anak bongsu dia and he doesn’t want to take risk tuk produce another child (takut next baby pun sakit jugak) so terpaksalaa rely on his older son tuk jadi bone marrow donor. Luckily our company provides unlimited medical coverage for us and our family. So takdelaa pening sangat nak fikir about the cost. Despite of the fact that I shouldn’t worry about medical cost, I still look for other alternatives. Yelaa, who knows how long you will serve the company kan? Kot tetibe tukar keje ke, at least I have some back up plans. Kalau nak senang stay jelaa sampai pencen to enjoy the benefits. Huhu
Well, masa I went to recent Motherhood Expo, I x lepaskan peluang tuk visit booth yang ade to know more about CB Banking and available packages. Hari tue private stem cell bank yang join just CryoCord and StemLife. Since masa tue ade dua booth nie je so xdelaa susah sangat nak buat comparison. As usual, yang selalu membaca and buat research is me, so my hubby follows je once he gets the idea. Everytime sales person tue explain, I have to translate to him in layman words. Biaselaa, engineer mane nak faham sangat medical terms :p Finally, we decided to sign up with CryoCord sebab package dia nampak lebih menarik plus ade free gift yang best (the reason why we end up with Kiddy Relax Pro car seat & carrier.. bukan kami saje2 rembat :p) Semalam sempat jugak singgah expo kat Midvalley. Pusing2 about 30 mins je sebab xde ape yang menarik pun. Noticed CryoCord & CellSafe punye booth tapi x sempat nak usha2 lebih.
Anyway, once you signed up, you will be given a contract and Collection Kit. Payment varies on the package you choose. I amik Cord Blood package since yang tue jelaa I rase affordable for the time being. Maybe next child bleh amik Cord MSc pulak. 1st year punye payment about RM2000+, depends on type of processing and storage pack u choose. I took AVP processing and vials storage. Kalau tak diaorg guna manual processing and simpan dalam storage bag instead of vials. Tapi kalau guna bag tue once dah bukak boleh guna sekali je. If guna vials chances tuk guna few times tue much more higher sebab diaorg simpan separately. The package covers up to 21 years. If you wish to continue, diaorg akan kira and advise new rate (since CB nie bleh simpan for a lifetime, maybe ade je orang yang akan consider tuk terus simpan). After byr 1st year punye payment tuh kena pulak bayar RM250 per year (up to 20 years). Bila hitung2 rasanya masih mampu lagi laa. My insurance policy pnye annual premium pun dekat 10x ganda daripada tuh. Apelaa salahnye melabur sikit tuk anak sendiri kan?
Anyway, Collection Kit tue kena bawak masa nak deliver. So nanti letak je skali ngan bag yang nak bawak pegi ke hospital. Make sure you inform your obgyn yang akan sambut your baby tue once you signed up. Nanti ade form yang u kena pass to your obgyn tuk inform dia yang u nak buat CB collection, so that dia aware. I heard if u deliver kat private memang xde masalah nak buat CB collection sebab doctors dh biase with the procedures. If govt hospital u kena check dulu before you sign up mana2 package. Takut nanti rugi je sebab your doc xboleh nk buat collection. So better sign up once you dah decide nak deliver kat mana. Okay, next step.. nanti once admitted kena call CryoCord team to inform them that you’re ready for delivery and pass the kit to the midwife. Before delivery diaorang akan collect mummy’s punye blood sebab CryoCord akan run lab test tuk pastikan xde disease transmitted from mummy. After delivery doctor akan collect the blood from the umbilical cord. So nnti kena tggu about 2 weeks kot tuk tau result blood test and stem cell pnye count. If dapat trace penyakit macam hepatitis or cell count x cukup, you will get full refund sbbnye diaorg xleh proceed tuk store the stem cells. Ade lagi few terms & condition in the contract so nnti kena tnye habis2an laa if decide nak store stem cell kat mana2 private banks. Each bank ade T&C masing2 yang might be different from each other. Public Stem Cell punye banking pun ade tapi I heard its more macam kita donate for their research. You can dig more info here.
Anyway, since I am no expert to talk about CB Banking, I advise you ols yang nak tahu lebih lanjut pasal nie to do further readings on your own. So rasenye takat nie je yang mampu dikongsi. Ada masa kite citer2 lagi ye :)
p/s: packing for last trip..lps nie nak kena simpan passport masuk peti besi :p
Till then,
