Banked, but cord blood is rare call

March 10, 2014

(Sydney Morning Herald) – Australian parents are paying thousands of dollars to store their babies’ umbilical cord blood with private operators – but only a few families have ever used it. Six out of about 30,000 people who banked cord blood privately in the past decade have accessed it, Mark Kirkland, medical director of private bank Cell Care, said. The head of the Australian Medical Association, Steve Hambleton, said he was concerned that parents are being ”oversold” on the merits of storage, which can cost up to $3000, and misled into spending money that is unlikely to have any benefit.