An Insurance Policy of a Different Kind
Erinn Foster knows a lot about preparing for the future. She has a great job with State Farm Insurance which allows her to work from her home. That is, when she's not busy caring for her boys, Sam, 4½, and 6-month-old Alex. Working for an insurance company came as second nature to Erinn — she's always been a planner, especially when it comes to planning for the future.
Erinn is also a trained nurse and it was in nursing school that she learned she was pregnant with Sam. During her pregnancy, she also learned about the potentially life saving uses of cord blood stem cells. Being a natural planner, Erinn wanted to know more about banking her unborn baby's cord blood. Her research led her to ViaCord, a leader in cord blood preservation.
Together with her husband Tommy, Erinn decided to bank her baby's cord blood. "Once we made the decision, the rest was easy," says Erinn. "ViaCord's customer service representatives made the process simple."
Erinn felt so lucky to have a new, beautiful son. She also felt lucky that her medical training introduced her to cord blood banking. She wondered whether she would have known about it if she hadn't been in nursing school. And so Erinn decided to help spread the word.
"I had worked at a children's furniture store and asked if I could post information about cord blood banking so that expecting parents could contact me to learn more. I was amazed by the response," admits Erinn. "Parents would ask 'what is this? Is this something we can do now?' I found that expecting parents just want more information. Many don't realize that this isn't some future promise. They can take advantage of cord blood banking now when they deliver their child."
While Erinn's role as a parent educator for ViaCord grew, so did her family. Six months ago, Erinn gave birth to her second son, Alex. True to her nature, Erinn was prepared with another cord blood preservation kit from ViaCord. "The decision was even easier the second time around," says Erinn. "Having an exact blood cell match for Alex was very important to us."
Now, as a mother of two, Erinn finds that planning her days has become more challenging. "Alex loves to be held all day!" she admits. Still, Erinn keeps all the balls in the air — being a mom, a wife, a State Farm Agent and a parent educator for ViaCord. In fact, she's now planning a Baby Fair where expecting parents will gather to learn more about parenthood. Erinn will be in the midst of it all, telling her personal story with ViaCord and helping other parents prepare for the future with the potentially life saving benefits of cord blood banking.