Can Cord Blood Be Banked After a C-Section?

There are many parents who are interested in banking their child’s cord blood, due to the numerous advantages of doing so. However, if you are planning to have C-section delivery, one of the things that you may be worried about is whether or not this can have a negative effect on banking your child’s cord blood. Here are some of the different things that you should know about cord blood banking which occur during a C-section delivery.

It is a very common misconception that you are unable to have your child’s cord blood banked if you are planning to have a C-section. It is very possible for you to do so. The process is actually considered to be fairly easy, or not much harder than cord blood banking with a natural birth. All that the doctor has to do is place the placenta into a sterile tray and then draw blood from the fetal side.

However, there are two major downfalls to having blood banked during a C-section. When a C-section delivery takes place, the doctor is generally more concerned about the health of both the baby and the mother. If any complications occur with the baby or the mother, the cord blood banking may be forgotten.

Another major problem with cord blood banking during a C-section is the fact that less blood tends to be saved. This is a problem because it is important for a lot of blood to be saved. The less blood that is saved, the less stem cells will be collected. What this means is that there may not be enough for the cord blood banking process to be considered either effective or complete.

Although both of these problems exist with cord blood banking that occurs with a C-section delivery, it does not mean that an attempt to bank cord blood will be unsuccessful. In fact, most medical studies have shown that there is not a huge difference between cord blood banking which occurs during a C-section than cord blood banking that occurs during a natural birth.

It is also important for any woman who is considering cord blood banking to weigh both the pros and cons before making the decision to do it. As rare as they may be, it is possible for complications to occur under any circumstances, regardless of whether you are planning to have a natural or C-section delivery.

As long as you choose a well known and respected doctor, no problems should experience during the cord blood banking process. During your quest for a doctor, you may even want to try to find one which has done cord blood banking before. The cord blood bank which you are using may be able to recommend on in the area for you to use. Much like any other area of life, practice makes perfect. A doctor who has experience with cord blood banking is much more likely to effectively perfect the process than one who has never done it in the past.