How Cord Blood Is Collected

The steps to the actual cord blood collection process are relatively simple compared to traditional bone marrow transplantation, and is one of the reasons why cord blood is being increasingly made more publicly known.

As well, cord blood has a rich supply of blood precursor cells that can be used to treat many life threatening conditions.

By storing cord blood for private use, there will not be a need to wait for an adult compatible donor to become available, and the transplant will also be of perfect match.

Click here for more about cord blood banks and storage. The whole cord blood banking industry is a new emerging field in itself.

As a donation for public use, also becoming more known to the public, this step can potentially help one of the thousands of people with severe illnesses requiring a cord blood transplant.

The steps to collection of cord blood for banking are:

1. After the baby is delivered, the umbilical cord is clamped, and the blood between the umbilical cord and the placenta is drawn out with a syringe, usually about 5 fluid ounces.

2. The cord blood is transported to the cord blood bank for processing, assessment and  storage.

3. If the cord blood is collected via a bank listed with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) in the US, then the cord blood will be listed under the NMDP Registry. This is a database available for doctors to search for a suitable cord blood donor for patients.

Some banks are not associated with the NMDP and will have their own database.

Note that the size of the sample must be large enough to yield a large enough transplant when used.

If the cord blood is suitable, it is cryogenically stored in liquid nitrogen storage until it is required for use.

It is currently estimated that cord blood can be stored for up to 10 years, though research is continuing to see if this can be improved.