Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

We will be banking our baby's cord blood and I'm just now starting to look at the two companies I've seen most recommended (CBR and Viacord). I'm not quite sure of the differences between them though??? I liked the CBR brochure better because of how they explained things, but they might just have a better marketing department, lol.

Who did you use? Why? TIA!!!!!

Message edited 1/12/2010 1:59:18 PM.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

CBR b/c that's who my OBGYN worked with. My Doc also used it when he had a baby so he had a lot of info and the customer service is terrific. They were so helpful. Call both and get information.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

We went with Viacord because along with storage, they do research. Actually they are very big on research (ViaCell). They also send out email regarding advances that are being made.

Message edited 1/12/2010 2:06:14 PM.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

we checked both. CBR definitely took more time to explain things better than viacord. we also liked CBR because they have stores more blood to date and actually had a few cases of use from that stored blood. (this goes back 2 years) so things could have change.

my OB had said there was a small blood storage facility here on LI that used to advertise. well they went under... my fear of using anyone other than the biggest company was they could go out of business and then what?

i figured at least CBR is large enoguh we have a chance they will stay in business for the long haul.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

We tried to, but didn't get enough. We were using the Elie Katz Cord Blood Bank. It is a private bank but they also have a public bank where you can donate the cord blood.
They were a lot less expensive than CBR or viacord because they don't have the overhead in advertising, etc. There is one person there who answers the phone and she gives you all the information.
I really loved dealing with them and was upset we couldn't bank the blood. But at the same time it was great that they called us to tell us there wasn't enough instead of taking our money and banking something that would have been useless.

I am hoping we will be able to use them with the next baby.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

I was all set up to do it with ViaCORD and we didnt have enough according to the dr. If there is a next time, I will do it for sure.

Message edited 1/12/2010 2:32:19 PM.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

we used viacord. my ob said that he was comfortable with both, and use whichever is cheaper. Viacord was cheaper because I had a postcard for $300 off. Otherwise , they were similarly priced. If you call viacord, tell them you got a postcard advertising $300 off, and they will give you that discount whether you have the discount or not.
If you do do it, can you FM me and I can give you a code where I will get $ back for referring you (sorry, couldn't resist)

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

I was originally going to bank with CBR, but my doctor suggested that we go with Viacord over CBR. I ended up switching and was very happy with my decision! My doctor likes Viacord's collection system better, and I like that they are constantly doing research!

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

I also know Viacord has $400 off right now, my BF and brother/sil are using them for their babies due in April

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

CBR. Another poster did a ton of research and I respected her own scientific reasoning behind CBR. For the next baby, I think we will donate the cord blood.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

Went with my Dr's recommendation and used Viacord.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

I found the sales reps at both CBR & Viacord to be extremely helpful, but we opted for Viacord for 2 reasons...

1) I reallllly liked CBR, but I wasn't comfortable with the recalls that they had in late 2008 on their storage bags. Everything was fine at the time that I gave birth, but I just didn't want to take any chances since we have a family history. And...

2) There is a high incidence of blood cancers in my family & my MIL passed away from a b/c as well, so storing his cb was very important to us. After checking out their transplant stats, Viacord has actually done WAY more treatments of the cancers that are in our families than CBR has. Something about their history & experience just made me feel more comfortable with them...

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

We used CBR. The rep I spoke to was always very helpful and answered all of my questions, including some about research, current uses, projected uses, storage issues, etc, etc.

And, I am so glad I did because I delivered early, just 2 days after making the decision to use CBR. I called the rep on my way to the hospital and he made sure they had a kit with my name on it. He even told me that if the hospital didn't have a kit on hand, a messenger would bring one over from another hospital. It was all seamless and the rep kept in touch with my DH. I was amazed by the service. The rep called back when he said he would and made what could have been an even more stressful event better, the one thing i didn't have to worry about that day was the cord blood banking.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

I used CBR bc my doctor recommended them. I originally looked into Viacord but they were more expensive for me (the difference in cost is b/c of the research they do). When I called my rep, she was very informative and answered all my questions. I have her number still if you want it.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

We used Viacord because my OB recommended them and we like the fact that they also do research.

Re: Did you bank your baby's cord blood? CBR or Viacord?

We went with CBR for many reasons many of which were already stated