Umbilical cord blood storage

Umbilical cord blood storage is the next step after collection, shipping, testing and processing. Cord blood storage is usually made in a liquid nitrogen freezer, which has an electrical power generator and a battery back-up in order to provide safety. For ensuring safety and control over the storage process most freezers have special clocks for registering, monitoring and sustaining the same temperature. These temperatures are highly important for the viability of the cord blood stem cells and for the safety of the cord blood storage. Therefore, the temperatures that maintain the umbilical cord blood storage viable are checked daily by the laboratory technicians and recorded. The employees have also the task of controlling and monitoring with great care the function of the liquid nitrogen freezer for the safe storage of the umbilical cord blood.

During all these procedures only certified laboratory technologists use safe and validated methods and techniques with the help of the proper equipment for the umbilical cord blood storage. This cord blood storage is made through cryopreservation method with special automated rate freezers and continuous observation and monitoring. In this technique of cord blood storage there is also used vapor phase nitrogen storage facility .

Due to the cord blood research apparently the umbilical cord blood may be stored for 20 years, period that may be modifyed with the help of the technological development. In this respect, the parents and the whole family may benfit from the safe cord blood storage, being sure that in any moment they may use the umbilical cord blood stem cells for a transplant. As the umbilical cord blood collection and storage is not usually covered by the health insurance, there are necessary fees to pay every year or with different prepayment programs.

There are accredited cord blood storage centers that may have all the procedures for the cord blood collection, shipping, testing, processing, cryopreservation and storage. American Association of Blood Banks is the main association that may give the accreditations for different cord blood companies if they cope with the standards and rules for the proper procedures with umbilical cord blood. The main element that should be asked by the interested parents in private cord blood storage is if the cord blood storage center is accreditated. The accredited cord blood storage centers may also have their accreditations from the Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. Other accreditated cord blood storage centers may claim their accreditations from the College of American Pathologists. The most important and safe accredited cord blood storage centers may hold all these accreditations. The most competent accreditated cord blood storage centers are interested in the technical and technological development of their services and techniques, having important partnership with different cord blood institutes. In this sense, most of the accredited cord blood storage centers develop fruitful collaborations with competent scientists, keeping pace with the latest news in the cord blood domain. They are interested in the development of their accredited cord blood storage centers, taking care of being well informed with the latest cord blood research and findings, especially in the case of the private cord blood storage facility.

These service qualifications may help in distinguishing the serious, respectable accredited cord blood storage centers from the newly developed cord blood storage centers that want to develop a simple business. Being given the conditions of cord blood research development and the future hopes about the use of cord blood stem cells in various disease treatments, more and more cord blood companies open their gates with low level qualifications, low standards and unqualified laboratory technologists. Therefore, the cord blood storage developed in improper conditions with no safe methods and techniques that may not guarantee the viability of the cord blood stem cells for the cord blood transplants. Another sign of such incompetent and dangerous cord blood storage centers is the lack of relationships with hospitals, universities or other institutions related with cord blood programs. The same aspect of incompetence may be the low number of stored cord blood samples, no relevant experience, no shipping services and no performed cord blood transplants.

These facts may be some suggestions for those families who think about the possibility of private cord blood storage. In this respect, private cord blood storage is important and sometimes essential for saving the life of their baby or of a family member, suffering of a life-threatening disease. Private cord blood storage may be used for long-term, being the beneficiary of 10 or 20-year cord blood storage with cord blood registry discounts. But, at the same time, you may benefit from the private cord blood storage if your family is already in need of a cord blood stem cell transplant.

All these relevant aspects about cord blood storage and accredited cord blood storage centers should be taken into account while choosing private cord blood storage. The same aspect may be taken into account by those families who want to donate the umbilical cord blood of their baby, being sure of the safety and seriousness of the contacted public cord blood company.