Cord blood banking is preserving umbilical cord derived HSCs for a long period of time at – 190°c, for future medical use.

It is ideal to store both because HSCs from cord blood can only differentiate into blood cells such as red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc. whereas MSCs from Wharton’s Jelly can differentiate into other types of cells and tissues like bone, heart, nerve, cartilage, etc.

HSCs and MSCs are equally beneficial but they demonstrate different functions. For instance, MSCs may not be able to treat blood cancer patients while HSCs is able to do it. On the other hand, MSCs can improve the engraftment of HSCs transplantation as MSCs are a catalyst to the necessary environment conducive for HSCs functions.

Yes, since the blood can be used in around 25% of the cases for siblings, it is important to store cord blood for each baby. Saving cord blood for your children provides related sources of stem cells for potential use and increases the likelihood of a useful match for other siblings. Each child’s cord blood is banked separately even in the case of identical twins. Cord blood collection could also be used as a form of “bio-insurance” against future illnesses requiring stem cell replacement.

In theory, there is no limit as to how long they can be stored. The current data indicates that stem cells stored for 15 years can still be successfully used for transplantation. The New York State Health Department guidelines for cord blood banking states that cord blood stem cells can be stored indefinitely in liquid nitrogen.

Yes, the procedure for collecting cord blood is painless and poses no threat to the baby or the mother. Additionally, the collection of cord blood does not interfere with the delivery process. Following standard post-delivery care, the blood remaining in the umbilical cord is collected into a sterile, specially designed cord blood collection bag through a wide bore needle. The blood flows into the bag by gravity until it stops, after which the collection is complete. The blood bag is clamped, sealed and labeled. The procedure usually takes 4-6 minutes. Two tubes of maternal blood are also drawn.

If the volume of cord blood collected or the cell count is less than the minimum requirement, we will definitely inform the client and let them decide whether they want to proceed for storing their child’s cord blood.

No, CryoCord will provide you with a collection kit upon enrollment, which has everything you and your obstetrician or nurse midwife needs to collect the cord blood. Simply bring this kit with you when you go to the hospital for your delivery.

The collection process is simple and can be performed by any doctor or nurse. We will instruct them in the specifics of drawing blood from the umbilical cord, though it is very similar to other types of blood collection

Should you decided not to store your baby’s cord blood stem cell in private stem cell bank, you can opt to donate your child’s cord blood to public cord blood bank malaysia (Pusat Darah Negara).