Cord Blood Banking

Umbilical Cord Blood is the remaining blood in the umbilical cord and the placenta after the baby is born. The purpose of collecting cord blood revolves around the fact that it consists of stem cells that can be utilized for treating diseases of the blood and immune systems of our body, including hematopoietic and genetic disorders.

Cord Blood Storage process is quite simple, safe and an effortless procedure that can be executed right after a cesarean or vaginal delivery. Once you enroll yourself for the cord blood storage activity, you receive a comprehensive kit containing everything that would be required by you and your doctors for the collection to take place successfully. Make sure you keep your hospital luggage ready with your kit, to prepare yourself for the big day in your life when you will give birth to a baby.

The procedure hardly takes 5-7 minutes in total to be completed with ease, by your health care practitioner. The collection of your baby’s cord blood will not affect the delivery at all, and is conveniently possible to be executed irrespective of whether it is a vaginal or cesarean delivery. Your doctor makes use of either of the two alternatives for collecting cord blood, viz. Syringe Method and Bag Method. In case of the Syringe method, a syringe or needle is used to draw the blood out from the umbilical cord right after the latter is cut out. This is similar to drawing blood samples for a blood test. In case of the Bag method, the umbilical cord is lifted up so that the blood is drained into a bag.

These bags have the capacity to hold 250 ml of blood, into which anticoagulant is added so that blood does not get clotted. Both the syringe and the blood collection bag should be labeled in advance with a special number that can signify your baby. Cord blood is basically collected within 15 minutes of the delivery of the baby, and is processed, tested and stored within 48 hours hence, by the laboratory facility, or the cord blood bank. Research states that optimal cells can be retrieved easily if the specimen has been processed within the prescribed time limit of 48 hours. The cord blood company is required to use the processing methods through which the cord blood is processed into a closed system that restricts the cord blood from being contaminated by bacteria.