'Good Mothering' or 'Good Citizenship'? Conflicting values in choosing whether to store or donate umbilical cord blood.

Abstract

Umbilical cord blood banking is one of many biomedical innovations that confront pregnant women with new choices about what they should do to secure their own and their child’s best interests. Many mothers can now choose to donate their baby’s umbilical cord blood (UCB) to a public cord blood bank, or pay to store it in a private cord blood bank. Donation to a public bank is widely regarded as an altruistic act of civic responsibility. Paying to store UCB may be regarded as a “unique opportunity” to provide “insurance” for the child’s future. This paper reports findings from a survey of Australian women that investigated the decision to either donate or store UCB. We conclude that mothers are faced with competing discourses that force them to choose between being a “good mother” or fulfilling their role as a “good citizen”. We discuss this finding with reference to the concept of value pluralism. Keywords Mothers, Umbilical cord, Tissue banks, Social values, Capitalism, Australia