This is the third 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 talk about the cord blood banking enrollment process with Cells4Life.
Once you have made the decision to store your child’s umbilical cord blood stem cells, there is a simple enrolment process you must go through.
How do I get started?
Cells4Life offer a comprehensive range of stem cell banking services that can be either pre-paid or paid annually. Here are the umbilical cord stem cell storage options available:
- Platinum Service – Whole cord blood storage
- Gold Service – Volume-reduced cord blood storage
- +Cord Tissue – Storing a piece of the umbilical cord together with Platinum or Gold Service
As mentioned in the previous articles, there are pros and cons associated with storing whole cord blood or volume-reduced cord blood. If you have any questions, please contact us for further information.
Once you have chosen a plan collection kit and service agreement will be delivered to you or can be picked up from the Cells4Life offices. The service agreement is an important legal document and should be read carefully before you sign.
You should notify your doctor and chosen hospital of your plans to collect umbilical cord stem cells and incorporate it into your birthing plan. It is recommended that you sign-up for a plan and obtain your collection kit at least 4-6 weeks in advance of your expected delivery date. But you can still sign up even after that as long as the delivery is not happening yet.
It is especially important to inform the hospital of your intention to collect umbilical cord stem cells. This is primarily to ensure that the doctor and nurses are prepared for the procedure, but also because some hospitals do not permit the collection of stem cells.
What happens on the day of delivery?
On the day of delivery, contact Cells4Life as soon as you go into labour. We will make arrangements to have the specialist courier ready to pick-up the collected umbilical cord stem cells immediately.
Your doctor or a nurse will perform the procedure of collecting the cord blood. Take your cord blood collection kit to the hospital with you or ensure your physician has the kit ready.
The entire procedure takes between 20 to 30 minutes and is completely painless for both mother and child. Once the sample has been taken, keep the cord blood kit with you until the courier has arrived and hand it directly to them. Do not leave it with the hospital reception desk.
You will receive some documentation from the medical courier to confirm receipt of the stem cells. They will then be rushed to a laboratory where they will be processed. All stem cells will be processed as soon as they arrived at the UK lab.
During the processing stage, Cells4Life will assess the viability of your child’s stem cells and send you a detailed status report the following day. The sample is then split into a number of segments which are frozen using cryopreservation and stored at 2 different facilities.
What needs to be done during the time period between the registration and the collection of the cord blood?
During this period, your only task is to keep Cells4Life updated on the expected delivery date.{{cta(‘6bf36f1f-ab9b-4f18-83b3-5253d41a8c54’)}}