Cord Blood Collection
When expectant parents decide to save their infant's cord blood, they need to make arrangements, in advance, with the hospital and the cord bank. The cord bank provides the parents with the necessary collection equipment and send a courier to stand by at the time of delivery. The medical team collects the cord blood shortly after delivery, packages the blood in the bank-provided packaging and gives it to the courier. The courier then returns the blood to the bank. In some instances, the hospital or parents may ship the blood to the bank by other means, but it needs to be frozen within 24 to 48 hours.
Private vs. Public Banks
Parents have the option of using a private bank or a public bank. Private banks store cord blood for individuals, for their own personal use. Public banks take cord blood as donations, for use by anyone who needs a cord blood transplant. If parents choose the public option, they need to pass several medical tests to ensure that they and the baby, are in good health. Parents who use the private option also need be tested, but the testing is slightly less rigorous because they are donating to themselves.
Cord Blood Storage
The cord blood is cryogenically frozen and placed in storage at the bank. With private banking, the parents pay a fee, each month or year, to store the blood. With public banking, the bank pays the storage costs. In private banking, the bank may only hold the blood for a certain number of years, because the effectiveness of stem cells relies, in part, on the size of the recipient. Most privately stored cells are intended for use by the child but, in some cases, other family members may use the cells. However, an adult may be too big to get as much benefit from the cells and the parents may decide to stop paying the storage fees on the cells after the child reaches adulthood.
Accessing Cord Blood
With private banking, if the child needs his cord blood, the parents contact the bank and make arrangements. With public banking, it is similar to other donor situations, where the cells given to those on a donor list. While there is a lot of research on the benefits of stem cell transplants, currently, stem cells are only recognized as viable treatments for a handful of disorders--most of them blood disorders. Therefore, who receives the blood depends on the type of illness, severity, survival rate and tissue type.
