Doctors still skeptical about cord blood banking: neither ACOG nor the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends private storage of cord blood.(Obstetrics)

After nearly a decade, private umbilical cord blood banks still aren't getting widespread support from the physician community.

Neither the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists nor the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends private storage of cord blood.

ACOG, in its 1997 policy, advises physicians that until there is a greater understanding of the issues, they should proceed with "considerable circumspection." Parents should not be sold the service without a realistic assessment of the likely return on investment, the policy says.

AAP, whose policy was first published in 1999, is in the process of updating its statement, and it is likely to take an even firmer position on private cord blood banks this time around.

"This idea of a biologic insurance policy is nonsense," said Dr. Bertram H. Lubin, president and director of research at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), who is working to revamp the AAP policy statement.

The new guidelines may call for government regulation on the type of advertising done by private cord blood banks and regulation of their collection and storage processes by the Food and Drug Administration.

Currently, many private cord blood banks are accredited by the AABB (formerly called the American Association of Blood Banks). However, more stringent accreditation standards offered by other agencies are often not pursued, Dr. Lubin said, and private banks provide limited testing on collected cord blood.