Behind and beyond the (non-)use of cord blood banking: Delayed cord clamping and non-decisions

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) banking has been criticised in social science scholarship as emblematic of the neoliberal responsibilisation of parenthood. Yet this article foregrounds what most parents actually do: they do not store UCB. Drawing on the concept of non-use in the social studies of technology, we examine this non-use of cryopreservation services. Our empirical material from Germany shows that non-use does not necessarily reflect inertia or ignorance but instead points, first, to alternative practices surrounding UCB and, second, to the situational circumstances of decision-making. As an increasingly common alternative use of UCB, we discuss delayed cord clamping (DCC). Here, blood flows back to the child rather than into sterile plastic containers, facilitating a slower pace of postnatal care. At the same time, our inquiry indicates that neither UCB banking nor DCC necessarily results from a decision having been made. Parents often encounter the option to store UCB under circumstances that preclude deliberation – namely pain, exhaustion, and a lack of time or engagement. Thus, we argue, practices involving UCB frequently emerge from what we term non-decisions.