Cord blood banks - The basic Facts about Cord Blood Banking1361109

cord blood banks allows parents to collect their baby's stem cells at birth and store long term for possible use in treating over 70 diseases. Collecting is painless and is safe to mother and baby. A collection kit is sent to the parents at least a month in advance of delivery date. The collection kit consists of a collection bag and a phlebotomy kit for collecting samples of the maternal blood as well. The kit is taken to the hospital by the parents where the health care provider will drain the blood collected from the cord into the collection bag, after the baby is delivered and the cord is cut. The blood can be collected in both vaginal and caserian deliveries.

A courier from the stem cell bank will come and retrieve the collection kit and transport for processing and storage. The cord blood under the regulatory body of and must be processed within 72 hours of delivery. New york state health guidelines require all collections to be processed with in 48 hours of delivery. The red blood cells and plasma will be separated out. The remaining stem cells will be frozen at -196 centrigrade in liquid nitrogen. Currently there is no expiration date on for the stem cells that are preserved. The stem cells can be thawed in the future and used to treat certain diseased for the baby or possible family members.

There are two types of transplants using cord blood stem cells. One is an autoloqous transplant using one's own cells and an allogenic using either a family member; s genetically related cells or a unrelated donor cells. Diseases that are genetically based would most likely be an allogenic transplant. Degenerative diseases such as Type1 diabetes, stroke, and cerebral palsy would use the baby's own cells or an autologous transplant.