This is the fourth article in a series dedicated to learning about umbilical cord blood stem cell storage. It aims to educate expectant parents by providing them a comprehensive guide to cord blood banking that will help them make an informed decision.
In this post, we will take a look at the shipping and handling process for your child’s cord blood sample. We also take a look at the way in which umbilical cord blood will be stored.
How is my baby’s cord blood transported to the Cells4Life laboratory?
A medical courier will pick up the sample from the hospital where your child is born and transport it to the UK laboratory immediately. The stem cells are then processed, tested and placed in cryo-storage.
How do you transport the sample (what packaging)?
A specially designed medical shipper is used to transport your child’s umbilical cord blood and tissue. This ensures the cord blood and tissue remain within the optimum temperature range of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.
How long do you store the sample?
Cells4Life offer a 20, 25 and 30 years storage of cord blood stem cells and cord tissue.
Why is the blood only stored for 30 years?
Cells4Life use the currently available clinical research to determine how long stem cells should be stored for. Current research has told us that umbilical cord stem cells can remain viable for 20 years or longer, so plans start at 20 years. Storage plans can be extended up to 30 years and we will continue to increase the length of plans to match research findings.
Can the sample be used more than once?
Cells4Life store the cord blood samples in multiple subdivisions to offer clients a great deal of flexibility. The patient can just use a partial of the stored cord blood sample and keep storing the remaining for future use.
How the sample is stored: the vapour phase of liquid nitrogen or in liquid nitrogen?
All samples are stored in the vapour phase of liquid nitrogen. This means that there is a reduced risk of cross-contamination from liquid nitrogen, lower temperatures are achieved and the storage devices are very reliable.
Should I store cord blood for all of my children?
Some stem cell therapies are more likely to be successful if the autologous stem cells are available. Autologous means the stem cells came from the person who is going to receive them. It’s important to note that certain illnesses which stem from a genetic condition may require the stem cells of a sibling or close relative.
The siblings of a child will have a 25% chance of a full match, 50% chance of a partial match and 25% chance of no match. For those reasons, many parents decide to store the stem cells of all of their children.
What is HLA Tissue Typing?
One of the tests we can perform on the umbilical cord blood is called HLA tissue-typing. This test looks genetic markers on the surface of white blood cells (WBC) called ‘human leukocyte antigens’ (HLAs). These markers determine a person’s tissue-type and play an important role in determining if a sample is compatible with the intended recipient. Performing this test makes it much easier to determine if the stem cells from a cord blood sample will be compatible for another person. Cells4Life can tissue-type your umbilical cord blood sample for a small additional charge.
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