| Q:
Why should I store my baby's umbilical cord
blood? A. Umbilical
cord blood is rich in stem cells, the building
blocks to all other cells in the blood and
immune system. These valuable cells can
now be cryogenically preserved as a form
of "biological insurance." Top
Q: Why are the cord blood's cells
so special?
A: While stem cells are
the same disease-fighting cells normally
found in bone marrow, umbilical cord blood's
stem cells are immature cells, less immunologically
selective than those of marrow stem cells.
Your baby's umbilical cord blood is a perfect
match for your child, and carries no risk
of rejection. Rejection is the number one
complication for unrelated transplants.
It is immediately available if ever needed,
there is no need to search for a donor.
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Q: Is my child the only one who
can use this blood?
A: No. Cord blood is also
insurance for other family members.* The
child's cord blood may be used for the mother
of the child (ex: women who develop breast
or gynecological cancers), or possibly for
other children in the same family. Many
children's lives have been saved by the
cord blood from their newborn brothers or
sisters. *The blood is stored as autologous
and FDA may require additional testing Top
Q: What is the procedure for collecting
the cord blood?
A: It is a simple and
painless blood draw from the umbilical cord
after the cord has been cut. Newborn Blood
Banking uses sterile anticoagulated syringes
to reduce the risk of contamination. Your
physician or midwife will be given instructions
with the blood collection kit. Top
Q: Is the collection procedure
painful or harmful to mother or child?
A: No. There is no pain
or risk involved. The procedure is a simple
blood draw done from the umbilical cord.
This is done after the baby has been separated
from the cord and prior to the delivery
of the placenta. Top
Q: What choices do I have in shipping?
A: We let our customers
choose to ship their newborn's blood either
FedEx or Air Net. Both of these companies will send a courier
to your hospital room. Air Net specializes in biological shipments.
Cost varies with each
company and is not included in our prices.
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Q: What tests are done on the blood?
A: The maternal blood
is tested for syphilis, hepatitis B and
C, and HIV. HLA typing is not normally done
at the time of processing and would be done
to a sample to confirm compatibility between
a recipient and a donor, if other than the
baby. This testing would be done as part
of a physician ordered transplant work-up
and should be reimbursed by insurance. Top
Q: How much blood is stored?
A: Newborn Blood Banking
will store up to 120 cc. of collected whole
blood. There is no additional fees for large
draws. In addition, a 1cc sample is stored
separately for HLA typing purposes. Top
Q: How is the cord blood stored?
A: Newborn Blood Banking
stores the whole blood in bags. There are
fewer steps involved when handling bags.
A 1cc sample is stored for future testing
purposes so that the entire blood sample
does not need to be defrosted. The cord
blood is labeled with three identifying
markers and then slowly frozen at a controlled
rate in a programmable liquid nitrogen freezer.
It is then immersed in liquid nitrogen where
it is kept at a constant temperature of
-196 degrees Celsius and stored in a monitored
cryogenic freezer. The freezer requires
no electrical power because the liquid nitrogen
freezes the blood; therefore, power outages
pose no problem. Top
Q: Is it true that by not
removing the red blood cells, the stem cells
will be damaged?
A: No, it is not true
that the red cells in whole blood damage the
stem cells. Newborn Blood Banking
stores whole blood in order to maximize the
number of stem cells that are cryopreserved.
Studies have shown that there is no
difference in manipulated blood and whole
blood. In fact, high red blood cell
counts in cord blood are shown to engraft
faster than units lacking red blood cells.
Please see the link Why Choose Newborn Blood
Banking for more information and
documentation. Top
Q: How is your company different
from other cord blood banks?
A: The main difference
is that Newborn Blood Banking stores whole
blood, which results is less damage to stem
cells. We also use a sterile syringe method
for collection and blood bags (as opposed
to vials) for storage. Please see the link
Why Choose Newborn Blood Banking for more
information and documentation. Top
Q: Why store whole blood?
A: Because the blood is
not washed to just stem cells, the blood
is handled less, and therefore, more viable.
The processing is the same as for bone marrow,
using the same cryopreservative. If a transfusion
were to take place, it would be a whole
blood to whole blood transfusion. Top
Q: What is the storage facility
like?
A: The storage facility
and laboratory is owned, not leased.
Newborn Blood Banking
stores only cord blood in their cryogenic
freezers. Top
Q: How stable is your company?
A: The company is privately
owned and operated. The owner has his own
child's cord blood stored in the same cryogenic
freezer as his customers. He has lived in
the Tampa Bay area since 1954. Newborn Blood
Banking has been storing cord blood since
1997 and stores only cord blood. Top
Q: How long can cord blood be preserved?
A: The first transplanted
cord blood occurred in 1988. Because cord
blood research is so new, further studies
are ongoing. It is believed that because
stem cells have much the same properties
as sperm cells, their viability would be
similar: greater than fifty years. Top
Q: What is the future of cord blood?
A: The uses of cord blood
seem countless. There are continuing areas
of stem cell technology research. Cord blood
shows promise in gene therapy where defective
genes are replaced with functional genes
for diseases such as AIDS, Hemophilia and
many other diseases. Top
Q: How do I get my registration
forms and collection kit?
A: Please give us a call,
toll free at 888-948-2673 to request a registration
folder. We also can email or fax the registration
forms. Payment of the registration fees
can be done over the phone using a major
credit card. When we receive your registration
payment and signed contracts, we will send
you the collection kit. Top
Q: What should I do before my baby
is born?
A: Talk to your doctor
about your desire to store your child's
cord blood. Make sure your have completed
all of your prenatal testing for HIV, hepatitis
B and C and syphilis. Complete and send
your registration forms. When you receive
your kit, read over all the material and
pack it in your suitcase, keeping it at
room temperature to take to the hospital.
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