How is cord blood processed and stored?
Again, this varies by facility. At LifebankUSA, once your collection kit is identified and assessed, the cord blood is taken to a laboratory where we extract the stem cells for storage. Additionally, LifebankUSA receives the intact placenta and separately processes it, significantly increasing the total number of stem cells collected. The cord blood and the placenta are processed in two separate labs and are stored as two separate stem cell units. LifebankUSA collects and processes your baby’s stem cells in a completely closed system, an approach which ensures the most sterile conditions possible for the processing and storing of your baby’s cord blood stem cells. This means that the collection bag in which your baby’s cord blood and placenta leaves the hospital is the same collection bag in which it will be processed. Through specialized equipment for use with our storage bags, we are able to transfer the cells into the cryogenic (freezing) bag via this closed system.
