How much blood and stem cells does a typical umbilical cord hold?
The median size of cord blood collections in family banks is 60mL or 2 ounces. That small volume of liquid corresponds to 470 million Total Nucleated Cells (TNC) or 1.8 million cells that test positive for the stem cell marker CD34. Thus, most healthy full-term babies have over a million blood-forming stem cells in their umbilical cord blood. By comparison, most public cord blood banks will only keep collections that are much bigger than average, and throw out the donations that are below a threshold of 100 million TNC, corresponding to a blood volume of about 90-100 mL or 3 ounces.
Reference: Sun, JJ et al., Transfusion Sept. 2010; 50(9):1980-1987
What questions should parents ask a Family Bank about collecting cord blood?
What instructional tools are provided for the physician and delivery staff?
Will the cord blood company actively contact the labor and delivery staff for you -- or are parents responsible for keeping them informed and coordinated?
What collection method do they use: gravity drip or blood draw?
Is the collection blood bag sterile, both inside and out, so that it can be used in the operating room for a C-section?
Do they provide the option of collecting additional stem cells from the placenta or tissue of the umbilical cord?
What questions should parents ask a Family Bank about Shipping & Handling?
Is the cost of shipping included in the contract?
Does the shipping company offer bed-side pick-up?
On weekends, are the laboratory staff in-house or on-call?
Does the bank guarantee to get the blood to the lab and processed within a certain time window?
Does the shipping container have a temperature logger?
If the bank uses a courier, does the courier have possession of the cord blood throughout transit? (ie: Does the courier sub-contract to another shipping company that is not a medical courier)?
