The umbilical cord tissues and blood are collected at the time of birth to bank the rich supply of life-promoting and sustaining cells such as stem cells, immune cells, and progenitor cells. They are collected at the time of birth and shipped off in insulated kits to the stem cell banks, where they are processed and cryopreserved. You have the choice to donate it to the public cord blood bank to facilitate transplantation for anyone who requires stem cells. However, you might also consider storing them in a private cord blood banking facility because

● you seek to keep it as a reserve for the newborn or family members as a proactive measure, or

● your family has a history of medical conditions that have the potential to be treated with stem cells.

Choosing the most reliable bank to store your newborn’s cord blood is of utmost significance to ascertain the viability of stem cells if/ when the need arises to use them for transplantation.

Invest time to handle every phase of newborn cord blood banking.

● Spare no effort to consult with and ferret through to the details of a number of private cord blood banks. Sort them out based on services, efficiency, accessibility.

● Discuss with your gynecologist about your decision to bank cord blood for the stem cells and go through all the details

Your reason to choose a private facility notwithstanding, once you have made your decision, there are three things you should consider before selecting the private cord blood bank.

1. The Success Rate of the bank

The data collected from previous experiments, successful transplantation, and active research on stem cells give sufficient information to confirm that the viability of stem cells recovered from cord blood is closely tied to the methods and efficiency with which the cord blood and tissues were collected, sealed, processes and stored.

The private cord blood bank that you choose should ideally have the best track record in your region so that you can build a sense of reliability and trust in the party to handle everything with precision.

The most reliable bank will have accreditations from the major health and safety standard boards such as the American Association of Blood Banks and FDA. The certificates act as a guarantee that their services have been verified to be in accordance with the standards set by central health associations. Adherence to the guidelines plays a critical role in precision handling of the process from the stage of collection to preservation; it contributes to the success rate of the bank in recovering functional cells even after several years of preservation

2. Cost

The selection process of a private cord blood bank needs your discretionary involvement in sorting through the comparable facilities that offer the services at costs that fall within your range. As an enterprise that functions within the medical field, an ideal private bank should be affordable and transparent.

Making inquiries, direct or over-the-phone conversations, catchinging up with peer reviews, etc can help you arrive at a cost estimate that you can further corroborate with a fee-structure comparison of the top preferred candidates.

3. Scope

A private cord blood bank with a broad scope of facilities and core service features should be your priority.

For instance, a private cord blood bank with the facility to process mesenchymal stem cells (from umbilical cord tissue), adult immune cell banking, etc., would rank higher than a regular cord blood bank.

Ideally, you should contact the facilities at least a few weeks in advance to avoid unwanted surprises and also familiarize yourself with the instructions related to the cord blood collection and other pertinent details. It would be best if you also considered the facility’s policies on after-office hours emergency care, cord blood and sample collection, shipping protocols, and storage features.