How is Cord Blood Stored?

Cord blood has emerged as an effective treatment for over 80 diseases, including blood cancers, tumors, immune disorders, metabolic disorders, and many more. With the advancement of several clinical trials, the potential use of cord blood cells is steadily growing. The progress of cord blood treatments lies in the fact that the cells found in cord blood are young and primitive, with the unique ability to create healthy blood cells faster. They are both easy and safe to collect, and with the multitude of benefits, it’s not surprising that parents around the world are opting to store their newborn’s cord blood with a cord blood bank.

The process of collection is a painless one for both you and your baby. However, do you know what happens to the cord blood that has been collected? We’ve got the gist.

A medical courier is in charge of delivering your baby’s cord blood to your chosen cord blood bank. On arrival, the blood is first processed to ensure that the stem cells collected are viable. To do this, the cord blood is tested for microbiological contamination, and your blood is tested for any infectious diseases. Simultaneously, the stem cells and immune cells are being isolated, which are then sealed in a cryo-bag for preservation.

Most parents have a common question about these cord blood stem cells – for how long can they be kept in this frozen form? Theoretically, once properly cryopreserved, these cells can be kept for decades and perhaps even longer. The viability of these cells, once thawed, will not be affected given proper and safe cryopreservation and the competence of the staff at the time of retrieval. To date, cord blood banks have efficiently recovered stored cells after 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, and even 23.5 years. On retrieval, these cells were analyzed and tested after being thawed.

Not everyone is indeed up-to-date on the processes at cord blood banks, but as parents considering this for your baby, it's important to find out the details. Other than consulting other parents who've banked their baby's cord blood, also do comprehensive research about the cord blood bank, its facilities, accreditation, competence, and experience. After all, the cord blood you store could give your baby or their siblings a new lease of life.

Author Bio: Prapti Chauhan is a freelance content writer by her profession and has over 11 years of enriching experience into blogging and article writing. Over the years, she has gained popularity as a content creator who specializes on topics such as pregnancy, parenting and new-born childcare. However, she is also writing articles on baby stem cells preservation, benefits of cord blood banking, cord blood banking, stem cell therapy and research.