Cord blood banking is the process of collecting and storing your baby’s umbilical cord blood stem cells for potential medical use. ViaCord also offers parents the option to collect and store stem cells found in the tissue of the umbilical cord. This is known as cord tissue banking. Our approach to cord blood and cord tissue banking is simple: Apply the most advanced science to deliver the highest-quality stem cell collection and storage process in order to achieve the best results for families. That approach has guided our growth and success for nearly twenty-five years.
Cord blood contains mesenchymal stem cells but is much more abundant in hematopoietic stem cells. Cord tissue, on the other hand, contains some hematopoietic stem cells but is much richer in mesenchymal stem cells. Cord tissue, or Wharton’s jelly, is the protective layer that covers the umbilical cord’s vein and other vessels. Its MSCs can become a host of cells including those found in the nervous system, sensory organs, circulatory tissues, skin, bone, cartilage, and more. MSCs are currently undergoing clinical trials for sports injuries, heart and kidney disease, ALS, wound healing and autoimmune disease. As with cord blood, cord tissue is easily collected at the type of birth and holds great potential in regenerative medicine. Learn more about cord tissue banking here.
A third option, sometimes not known about, is available for cord blood banking as well. A direct donation bank is a combination of private and public banks. These banks will store blood for public use, but accept donations that can be reserved for families or specific individuals. Some do not charge a fee for this service, while others may offer a reduced fee compared to banks that are completely private.
If someone doesn’t have cord blood stored, they will have to rely on stem cells from another source. For that, we can go back to the history of cord blood, which really begins with bone marrow. Bone marrow contains similar although less effective and possibly tainted versions of the same stem cells abundant in cord blood. Scientists performed the first bone marrow stem cell transplant in 1956 between identical twins. It resulted in the complete remission of the one twin’s leukemia.
The next step at either a public or family bank is to process the cord blood to separate the blood component holding stem cells. The final product has a volume of 25 milliliters and includes a cryoprotectant which prevents the cells from bursting when frozen. Typical cost, $250 to $300 per unit.
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For example, if your baby were born with a genetic condition, such as spina bifida, her stem cells would carry this condition as well and therefore couldn’t be used to treat her. Similarly with leukemia, the stem cells may already have pre-leukemic changes.
You’ve just visited the doctor and the good news is that you’re going to have a baby and everything looks good. Thirty years ago, your doctor may have given you a baby book and information about products that sponsors want you to buy for your new addition. Today, along with pretty much the same materials, you’ll be asked to consider saving the blood of your newborn that’s left over in the umbilical cord and placenta after the delivery. Another big decision, and possibly a costly one.
The collection of cord blood takes place after the baby has been delivered, so there is no risk to either the mother or baby. The delivery process is not changed or modified because of the cord blood collection. The umbilical cord is clamped, cut and separated from the baby. The baby is then placed in the mother’s arms or taken to a warmer. Only then will your physician or midwife collect the cord blood. The blood from the umbilical cord drains into a standard blood donor collection bag by gravity.
If you want the blood stored, after the birth, the doctor clamps the umbilical cord in two places, about 10 inches apart, and cuts the cord, separating mother from baby. Then she inserts a needle and collects at least 40 milliliters of blood from the cord. The blood is sealed in a bag and sent to a lab or cord blood bank for testing and storage. The process only takes a few minutes and is painless for mother and baby.
Families must pay the annual storage fees to maintain their cord blood at a private bank. If those fees are not paid, then the cord blood will simply be disposed of or donated to a public bank. That is why public cord blood banks can be a better option, especially for households with lower income levels, because there is a greater chance that the stored blood will be able to successfully treat someone in the future.
STEM CELLS are found in cord blood, cord tissue, and placenta tissue. These cells are highly valuable to your baby, the mother, and possibly other family members. When you save these stem cells with Americord®, you ensure that they are securely stored for you and your family’s future needs. Learn more >
This web page was researched by Frances Verter, PhD, Alexey Bersenev, MD PhD, and Pedro Silva Couto, MSc ©2016-2018. Sources of information about established therapies were publications in the medical literature found via PubMed and Google Scholar. Sources of clinical trials were searches of ClinicalTrials.gov, Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR), Japan University hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trial Registry (UMIN-CTR), Japan Medical Association Clinical Trial Registry (JMA-CTR), Clinical Research Information Service from South Korea (CRiS), EU Clinical Trials Register (EudraCT), World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), Netherlands Trial Register (NTR), Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANZCTR), Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI), German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), and Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT).
Genes: Segments of DNA that contain instructions for the development of a person’s physical traits and control of the processes in the body. They are the basic units of heredity and can be passed down from parent to offspring.
“This is a medical service that has to be done when your baby’s cells arrive and you certainly want them to be handled by good equipment and good technicians,” says Frances Verter, Ph.D., founder and director of Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to educating parents about cord blood donation and cord blood therapists. “It’s just not going to be cheap.” Although the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states cord blood has been used to treat certain diseases successfully, there isn’t strong evidence to support cord blood banking. If a family does choose to bank cord blood, the AAP recommends public cord blood banking (instead of private) to reduce costs.
The parents who make the decision to store their baby’s cord blood and cord tissue are thinking ahead, wanting to do right from the start (even before the start), and taking steps to do whatever they can to protect their baby down the road. Today, many conscientious parents are also considering delayed cord clamping (DCC), a practice in which the umbilical cord is not clamped immediately but rather after it continues to pulse for an average of 30 seconds to 180 seconds. Many parents don’t realize that they can delay the clamping of the cord and still bank their baby’s cord blood. As noted early, our premium processing method, PrepaCyte-CB, is able to capture more immune system cells and reduce the greatest number of red blood cell contaminants. This makes it go hand in hand with delayed cord clamping because it is not as affected by volume, effectively making up for the smaller quantity with a superior quality. You can read more about delayed cord clamping vs. cord blood banking here.
Banking cord blood is a new type of medical protection, and there are a lot of questions that parents may want to ask. The Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood organization even has questions it believes all parents should ask their cord blood banks. We have answers to these and other frequently asked cord blood questions in our FAQs. If you can’t find the answer for which you are looking, please feel free to engage one of our cord blood educators through the website’s chat interface.
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This is only the beginning. Newborn stem cell research is advancing, and may yield discoveries that could have important benefits for families. CBR’s mission is to support the advancement of newborn stem cell research, with the hope that the investment you are making now will be valuable to your family in the future. CBR offers a high quality newborn stem cell preservation system to protect these precious resources for future possible benefits for your family.
There are a number of different processing methods out there for a cord blood bank to use, and the processing method can ultimately affect the purity of the final product, which we’ll explain in a minute. Once the stem and immune system cells have been isolated and extracted from the plasma and red blood cell, they are mixed with a cryo-protectant and stored in a cryo-bag. We overwrap our bags for added protection and use a technique called “controlled-rate freezing” to prepare the cells for long-term storage. The overwrapped cryo-bag is housed in a protective metal cassette and placed in vapor-phase liquid nitrogen freezer for long-term preservation.
The use of cord blood is determined by the treating physician and is influenced by many factors, including the patient’s medical condition, the characteristics of the sample, and whether the cord blood should come from the patient or an appropriately matched donor. Cord blood has established uses in transplant medicine; however, its use in regenerative medicine is still being researched. There is no guarantee that treatments being studied in the laboratory, clinical trials, or other experimental treatments will be available in the future.
Our annual storage fee is due every year on the birth date of the child and covers the cost of storage until the following birthday. The fee is the same $150 for both our standard and our premium cord blood services. The annual cord tissue storage fee is an additional $150.
Public cord blood banks collect and store blood without charge; however the blood is available for use by anyone in the world who needs a stem cell transplant. If the cord blood is not suitable for banking, it may be used for stem cell research. If your child or a family member needs a cord blood transplant, and the cord blood is still in the bank and usable, it will be made available.
The European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) has also adopted a position on the ethical aspects of umbilical cord blood banking. The EGE is of the opinion that “support for public cord blood banks for allogeneic transplantations should be increased and long term functioning should be assured.” They further stated that “the legitimacy of commercial cord blood banks for autologous use should be questioned as they sell a service which has presently no real use regarding therapeutic options.”
The cord blood of your baby is an abundant source of stem cells that are genetically related to your baby and your family. Stem cells are dominant cells in the way they contribute to the development of all tissues, organs, and systems in the body.
During pregnancy, the placenta and blood within it serve as the lifeline of nourishment from mother to baby through the umbilical cord. Following the birth, these items are usually discarded. However, cord blood is a rich source of adult stem cells, similar to those found in bone marrow. These blood-forming stem cells create all of a person’s blood cells: red cells that carry oxygen, white cells that fight disease, and platelets that help blood clot. It is because of this multipurpose functionality that cord blood is capable of treating more than 80 different diseases, and has saved thousands of lives.
For example, your child could develop a genetic medical condition for which the blood stored would no longer be useful. In these types of cases, families who paid to store cord blood were at a major disadvantage. Once their child developed an immune deficiency disease, they had to pay out of pocket for donated cord blood on top of the fees they paid storing the cord blood they can’t even use.
With more than 80 diseases now treatable using cord blood stem cells and over 50 clinical trials underway using cord and placenta tissue, the motivation for collecting these valuable and potentially life-saving cells is clear. When you save these stem cells with Americord®, you ensure that they are securely stored for you and your family’s future needs.
A “clinical trial” is a study in human patients for an emerging therapy that has not been adopted as standard therapy. This website has pages that enable patients to search worldwide for currently recruiting clinical trials with ether cord blood or umbilical cord tissue MSC. The table below checks off all diagnoses that have ever been treated in clinical trials with cord blood or cord tissue, regardless of whether the trials are still open.
At present, the odds of undergoing any stem cell transplant by age 70 stands at one in 217, but with the continued advancement of cord blood and related stem and immune cell research, the likelihood of utilizing the preserved cord blood for disease treatment will continue to grow. Read more about cord blood as a regenerative medicine here.
Keep in mind that it’s still very unlikely your child will ever tap into her own saved cord blood later in life (the odds are 1 in 2,700 to 1 in 20,000 by some estimates). In fact, a baby’s own cord blood cells may be unsuitable to treat any condition that appears down the road because the mutations responsible for that disorder are typically present at birth. What’s more, the chances that you’ll be able to use your baby’s donated cord blood to treat an adult family member are also low. That’s because most stored units of cord blood don’t contain enough stem cells to treat anyone weighing more than 90 pounds. Donating your baby’s cord blood to a public bank does widen the scope of those in need who could benefit.
Sometimes cord blood units do not meet criteria for use in transplanting. Typically, this occurs if the amount of cord blood collected is too small or the unit contains too few cells. In this case, it may be used for research purposes that have been approved by the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank and meet required ethical standards.
If you pay a private bank to store your cord blood, then it will always be available to you. No one can access the cord blood unless you authorize it. It will be reserved for your family and no one else. It cannot be donated for research purposes if your account remains in good standing. There may not be a guarantee that you’ll ever use it, but at least you’ll have it should there be a need to use it in the future.
The material on this website is provided for educational purposes only and is not to be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, or in place of therapy or medical care. Use of this site is subject to our terms of use and privacy policy. © 2018 What to Expect
Checked to make sure it has enough blood-forming cells for a transplant. (If there are too few cells, the cord blood unit may be used for research to improve the transplant process for future patients or to investigate new therapies using cord blood, or discarded.)
From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Health information on this site is based on peer-reviewed medical journals and highly respected health organizations and institutions including ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists), CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), as well as the What to Expect books by Heidi Murkoff.
There is often confusion over who can use cord blood stem cells in treatment — the baby they were collected from or a sibling? The short answer is both, but it very much depends on the condition being treated. And it’s ultimately the treating physician’s decision.
Choosing a bank (specifically a private bank) for her daughter’s cord blood made perfect sense to Julie Lehrman, a mom based in Chicago. “We wanted the extra assurance that we were doing everything we could to keep Lexi healthy,” Lehrman says. “I was older when Lexi was born, and there’s a lot we didn’t know about my mom’s health history, so we felt that we were making a smart decision.” Fortunately, Lexi was born healthy, and neither she nor anyone else in the family has needed the cord blood since it was stored seven years ago. But Lehrman has no regrets; she still feels the family made a wise investment. “Lexi or her brother or even one of us could still need that blood in the future, so I’m thankful that we have it.” But banking your child’s cord blood may not be the right decision for you. Read on to see if you should opt for private cord blood banking.
Private cord blood banking companies provide you and your family the assurance that your child’s cord blood will be contained safely and securely until needed. Private cord banking is provided by an accredited family company that contains your child’s blood as long as you are able to pay the fees. There are currently 25+ AABB certified private banks available.
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