Cord Blood Banking FAQ’s

Cord blood is the remaining blood in a baby’s umbilical cord and placenta following birth and is usually discarded. It is rich in stem cells, the building blocks of the blood and immune systems and can be collected and stored for potential medical use.

Cord blood stem cells are the building blocks of the blood and immune systems. They are the origin of white blood cells that fight infection, red blood cells that carry oxygen, and platelets that promote clotting and healing

Cord blood stem cells are a major source of hematopoietic (blood) stem cells and are mostly used to help regenerate a patient’s blood and immune system that has been weakened or damaged by radiation or chemotherapy.
Stem cell transplantation has been used to treat more than 80 diseases of the blood and immune system in children and adults, including among others leukemia, anemia, lymphomas, and immune disorders

A) Cord blood is the remaining blood in a baby’s umbilical cord and placenta following birth and is usually discarded. It is rich in stem cells, the building blocks of the blood and immune systems and can be collected and stored for potential medical use. Collect and preserve the stem cells from umbilical cord blood the potential future medical benefit of the family.

B) Donate the cord blood for research or use by an unrelated third party - in which case neither do you incur any cost nor does Cryoviva India compensate you for your contribution to cord blood collection and research.

C) Allow the hospital to discard the newborn's cord blood.

The procedure of drawing cord blood from the umbilical cord immediately after the birth of the baby is called umbilical cord blood collection. It can be performed with either vagina or cesarean section deliveries.

More and more parents decide to store their baby’s cord blood not only for the present applications but also for the future potential uses of cord blood Parents want the comfort of knowing that, if the need ever arises, their baby's cord blood stem cells are readily available. Banking a baby’s cord blood is particularly important if a family has a predisposition to certain illnesses or to families with diverse ethnic backgrounds. It is also valuable for families adopting a newborn or using assisted reproductive techniques.

New treatments continue to emerge as doctors and scientists research potential future treatments for a variety of diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Cord blood stem cells offer many advantages over other stem cells, especially bone marrow stem cells, including:

• Cord blood is a rich and noncontroversial source of stem cells. The collection procedure is quick and very safe and poses no risk or discomfort to the mother or baby
• There is less risk of viral infection using cord blood stem cells
• Cord blood stem cells transplants cause less Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD), a transplant rejection that is the leading cause of death in stem cell transplant patients
• Cord blood stem cells can be successfully used even when there isn't a perfect match between donor and recipient. Bone marrow transplants not only require a perfect match but finding a donor is dicult and timeconsuming
• Cord blood stem cells occur in much higher concentrations than bone marrow and have a greater capacity to proliferate
• A related source of stem cells such as cord blood is the preferred treatment option

In transplantation, the host can reject a transplanted organ or tissue it regards as foreign. But in GVHD, the transplanted tissue (usually HSC) because it is capable of expressing an immune response turns against and rejects the host.

Umbilical cord blood stem cell was first used for transplantation in 1988, in France, for a patient with Franconia's anemia. Since that time, cord blood stem cells have been increasingly used as a substitute for bone marrow in thousands of successful transplants..

Cord blood stem cell transplants are known to be as successful as transplants using stem cells harvested from bone marrow, and in many cases are preferred to bone marrow stem cells as they are juvenile stem cells. Moreover cord blood has other significant advantages over bone marrow, including ease of collection and better tolerance of HLA mismatches.

The term "HLA" is short for Human Leukocyte Antigens, and these are proteins residing on the surface of white blood cells and other human cells and determining the tissue compatibility between the donor and the recipient. Although complete compatibility is optimal, studies have revealed that cord blood transplantations result in a positive outcome even if the match is not perfect. Stem cells derived from cord blood are characterized as being less mature, immunologically more "naive", as opposed to stem cells retrieved from bone marrow.
Briefly, there are 6 HLA types that are important for stem cell transplants: in a bone marrow transplant the patient and donor must match at all 6 (100% match), whereas a cord blood transplant is just as effective at curing patients with only a 3 or 4 out of 6 matches (50% - 67% match) between donor and patient.

We encourage expectant mothers to enroll as early as 12 weeks of their pregnancy and no later than their 34th week.
We recommend speaking to our consultant during your 1st trimester. This is to ensure the stability of your pregnancy and to give ample time for understanding the benefits of cord blood banking. Once you have decided to enroll with us, we will send the customized collection kit 6 weeks prior to your Expected Due Date (EDD).
Nevertheless, if you are currently in your third trimester and wish to store your baby’s cord blood with us, please do not hesitate to call our 24-hr helpline at +91-9311042957

Yes, but seen in comparison to the benefits, the cost incurred is insignificant. Cord blood stem cell preservation simply adds an element of protection against some of the most devastating possibilities that could occur in future.

In the unlikely event that you decide to avail of our service just a few days prior to the birth of your baby, you will have to notify and register with us at least 48 hours before delivery.
For last-minute/emergency cases, Cryoviva SG does have spare kits in each maternity hospital to facilitate collection. Call our 24-hr helpline number +91-9311042957 to consult over the phone. 

No. Cryoviva India will send you a collection kit that has everything you and your physician or nurse will need for the collection. Simply bring the collection kit with you to the hospital on your delivery date. For last-minute/emergency cases, Cryoviva India does have spare kits in each maternity hospital to facilitate collection. Call our 24-hr hotline number +91-9311042957 to consult over the phone.

When you receive the collection kit, remember to keep it in a cool and dry place, do not refrigerate it, and do not pass it through an X-ray device. Keep it at a temperature between 8°C to 25°C.
Before you go to the hospital to be admitted for delivery, do remember to bring along the collection kit with you and hand it over to the nurse in charge when you arrive. Nurses in all the maternity hospitals are trained for collection procedures by Cryoviva.

Firstly, try and obtain the kit from where it is currently stored, that is, your home. Cryoviva India does have spare kits in all the local maternity hospitals. Our spare kit hotline: +91-9311042957 . In case this is not possible, please inform the doctor/physician, (overseeing the birth of your baby) who will have a spare collection kit. In case of emergency, do contact your sales consultant.

Cord blood is collected at birth once the umbilical cord is clamped and cut after the baby is safely delivered. Your baby’s birth is the only opportunity to collect the cord blood.

Cryoviva India uses the gravity bag method. This is similar to the methods used by the American Red Cross for blood collection.
Cord blood is drawn into a collection bag filled with preservative fluid "Citrate Phosphate Dextrose" (CPD), an anticoagulant. The CPD allows sufficient time for the blood to be delivered to the laboratory, where it can then be processed.

Not at all. The collection procedure is very safe and poses no risk or discomfort to the mother or baby. In fact, the blood is collected after the umbilical cord has already been cut and the baby does not remain in the birthing area during the collection

The entire procedure is completed within ten minutes after the baby has been delivered. There is absolutely no pain to the mother or child during the collection process since the blood is harvested from the cord once it has been clamped and cut.

No. It has no known side effects and other implications.

Your delivering physician or nurse/midwife will collect the cord blood

After all required samples are collected, do contact our 24-hr helpline number +91-9311042957 to inform us of the sample collection.
• For private hospitals, nurses will arrange it in our collection area, and our logistic team will pick it up within 24 hours.
• For restructured hospitals please give us your address, name, IC, contact number, hospital, and ward details while calling our 24-hr helpline number +91-9311042957 We will arrange for our logistic team to pick it up from you individually

The cord blood should normally be processed within 48 hours of collection. That is why we recommend that the cord blood is shipped to Cryoviva India immediately within 24 hours, after the baby’s birth.

It is necessary to contact us directly after the birth of your baby. Simply tell us the following particulars to find out if the sample has reached our labs.
a) The mother's name
b) Contact number
c) Client ID/IC
The baby’s date and time of birth You will receive written confirmation of lab results from Cryoviva India within 45 days once it is successfully stored.

The following tests will be performed on every specimen:
For Cord Blood: Cord blood volume, cell viability, total nucleated cell count (TNCC), Nucleated RBC, total live CD34+ count, cord blood ABO/Rh grouping.The mother's blood is tested for Hepatitis B, C, HIV, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV), Malaria, syphilis.

Cord blood is processed using a red blood cell depletion method to remove most of the red blood cells. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a cryoprotectant, is added to the cord blood prior to freezing. Freezing is accomplished using a "controlled-rate freezer". This freezer gradually freezes the cord blood over a period of approximately one hour. It also provides a record of the entire freezing process. The cord blood is then stored in a dual compartment cord blood freezing bag in liquid nitrogen.

Each cord blood-freezing bag is placed in an additional, slightly larger bag that is sealed using a special heat sealer. This overwrap provides added protection to your cord blood by providing another barrier to crosscontaminants. It will also help contain the cord blood in the unlikely case that any breakage occurs.
The bag is held in the vapor phase of liquid nitrogen during the quarantine phase. Once all required tests are completed and results are found acceptable, the cord blood will be successfully stored.

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As long as it is properly cryopreserved, cord blood can be stored and remain viable indefinitely. Pay our contract, we will store your baby’s cord blood for 21 years. Once your child turns 21, he/she will have the legal right to renew the storage Agreement

Upon signing the agreement with Cryoviva India, we provide a unique identification number that marks all components of the collection kit and the documentation. This excludes any mistakes or erroneous swaps.

The moment you register for umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation you are given a registration number and the bag with the kit is given a unique ID number on a bar-coded label. When your baby’s cord blood arrives at our laboratory, it is checked against the number allotted to you on the computer before separating the stem cells and cryo-preserving them for long-term storage.

Also, as the testing, sorting, and storing process is almost completely automated, the chances of your baby’s cord blood stem cell being mistaken for another is negligible.

Until the child is of legal age, the parents, as the child’s guardians, have control over the stem cells. No stem cells will be released by Cryoviva India without the parents’ consent initially and later the child’s consent once they reach the legal age.

The preserved stem cells are available for the child from whose umbilical cord they were collected because there is an increased chance of a match with the siblings, parents may choose to make the stem cells available to siblings or other family members who may need them. That decision if yours to make.

Since you own the preserved specimen, there is no charge for retrieval. When you require your baby's preserved stem cells, all you have to do is to contact us. When the appropriate documentation is in place, your baby’s stem cells will be given to you in the shortest time span possible.

The decision to bank your baby’s cord blood stem cells is an important one and can be made only by you - the parents. It is a unique opportunity for family members to take advantage of new treatments resulting from the advancement of stem cell research. Moreover, you only get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to store a child’s cord blood.

The first and only family Cord Blood bank in India to possess AABB Accreditation for Cord Blood. Cryoviva Group, with a global presence, prides itself on more than a decade-long experience in cord blood banking. We are committed to providing services of the highest quality.

The preservation charges after 21 years will remain more or less the same. In fact, as the concept becomes more and more popular, there is a chance that these charges may increase, decrease or remain equally competitive.

After 21 years, since the child will attain legal age, the decision to continue storage will be in his or her hands.

Most of the stem cells in cord blood are blood-forming stem cells, also known as "hematopoietic" stem cells or HSC. The presence of HSC is what enables cord blood transplants to be used as a substitute for bone marrow transplants. However cord blood transplants have advantages and disadvantages compared to stem cell transplants from adult donors. The main advantage of cord blood is that it does not have to be exactly matched to the patient like transplants from an adult donor.

The main disadvantages are that it is difficult to collect enough cord blood to transplant an adult, and cord blood stem cells are slow to engraft

Cord blood also has applications in regenerative medicine. This is due to a combination of additional types of stem cells in cord blood, plus the fact that the cells in cord blood release chemicals that signal the body to heal itself. These chemicals are called cytokines and the cell-to-cell signaling is called the paracrine effect.

Over the past decade, infusions of cord blood stem cells have been used around the world as therapy for infants with cerebral palsy and other brain injuries. Published studies have shown that cord blood stem cells benefit young children with neurologic injury, even though the mechanism of action is not yet fully understood. More studies against control groups are in progress.