What is

Cord Blood Banking

Cord blood is the blood that remains in the veins of newborn’s umbilical cord following birth. It contains valuable stem cells, predominantly Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) which has the potential to generate blood cells and cells of the human immune system. They are essential in fighting underlying causes for various types of diseases and conditions. These cells are also primitive in nature compared to stem cells harvested from other sources. Hence, it is less prone to develop Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) after stem cell transplant.

Why

The Importance of Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Storage

Primitive Cells
Cord blood is different from regular blood because it is not aged; it has not been exposed to the environment. Thus, stem cells found in the cord blood are the most primitive form of stem cells.

Therapeutic Usage
Cord blood has been used to treat nearly 80 types of diseases with over 45,000 transplants worldwide including treatment of blood-related disorders, such as leukaemia, sickle cell anaemia, thalassaemia and immune system disorders.

Protection For Family
He/ she will have a source of stem cells that is of a perfect match (autologous transplantation), with a 50% probability of match for the parents and a 25% probability of match for his/ her siblings.

Once In A Lifetime
There is only once in a lifetime opportunity to collect the baby’s stem cells for cord blood banking, which is at the time of birth. Otherwise, these valuable stem cells are discarded as medical waste.

Simple, Quick and Painless
The collection of cord blood is simple, quick and painless. Highly trained medical professionals will collect the sample within 5 minutes, without interfering or complicating the delivery process.

Collection, Processing, Storage

Cord Blood Stem Cell Storage

Collection, processing and storage of umbilical cord blood stem cells are easy, painless and cause no complication to the delivery process.

After the baby is delivered, the doctor will clamp the umbilical cord and separate it from the baby.
A needle will then be inserted into the vein of the umbilical cord while waiting for the placenta to be detached from the mother.
The blood from the umbilical cord will flow into the collection bag within 5 minutes, without interfering or complicating the delivery process.
The blood collected will be processed using the AXP® System, which is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Cord blood stem cell samples will then be stored in FDA-approved cryobags.
After a series of quality checks, cord blood is then finally stored in the vapour phase liquid nitrogen storage tank below temperature -190ºC.