Cord blood processing
Processing cord blood
We understand the importance of having freedom of choice during your pregnancy, which is why we offer two cord blood processing methods:
– Cells, our entry level service.
– CellsPlus, our most popular service powered by TotiCyte.
Both options preserve your baby’s precious stem cells, but we would always recommend using CellsPlus as it saves 3 times more cells relative to our other cord blood processing methods available.*
If your child ever requires a treatment, the number of stem cells in their sample can influence the success of the therapy – the more cells the better.
Multiple Samples
The stem cell treatment possibilities of umbilical cord blood are increasing all the time. Currently, there are over 7,600 clinical trials13 investigating the use of stem cells to treat a wide range of conditions and they are already the recognised treatment for over 85 diseases.
It is for this reason that we aim to give your baby as many opportunities as possible to use their stem cells if they are required. We offer a storage option that enables you to preserve your baby’s cord blood and tissue in multiple samples. That means we can thaw just the amount of stem cells needed for a treatment and keep the remainder in storage for future therapies.
Processed cord blood is stored at dual storage locations
Because we know that, no matter how unlikely, disasters can happen no matter how unlikely, we give you the option to store your baby’s samples across two geographically separate storage locations. If there is ever a problem at one of our facilities, you can rest easy that the remainder of your baby’s cord blood and cord tissue remains safely in storage at another location.
More opportunities with CellsPlus
CellsPlus delivers more cells when you upgrade.*
Two key factors determine whether a stem cell sample will be used in a therapy. These are:
– whether it is a match;
– the number of cells it contains.
With your baby’s own cord blood, the match is guaranteed, however the number of cells will vary as a result of the cord blood processing method used.
Most cord blood processing systems will lose the majority of stem cells within a sample by the time it is used in treatment. Exclusive to Cells4Life in the UK, CellsPlus is powered by TotiCyte, which delivers more stem cell cells based both pre-freeze, post-thaw, and when they are grown – than other cord blood processing methods. Ultimately, our results show a sample processed using TotiCyte will contain 3 times more cells than one processed using one of the industry standard technologies.*
Depending on the treatment, usually 25 million cells per kilogram of body weight are required for use in treatment – so the number of cells in a cord blood sample is crucial. Choosing CellsPlus could mean the difference between only having enough stem cells to treat a child, and being able to treat an adult or even multiple treatments.
“Upgrade to CellsPlus to preserve more cells when you need”
The first cord blood bank to provide cord blood in multiple samples for multiple treatments.
Cells – world leading technology
A slightly more affordable option, Cells is second only to CellsPlus in terms of viable cell recovery. This method of banking cord blood is unique to Cells4Life for family banking in the UK.
Cord blood viability
We only use a dedicated courier service who works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to collect your baby’s cord blood. This ensures that your sample is collected and processed within 12 – 24 hours, if not earlier. This is very important as the viability of cord blood will start to decrease as soon as it is out of the body – the sooner your baby’s sample undergoes cord blood processing, the more stem cells your baby will have in storage. We always ensure that our courier and processing times are some of the best in the industry.
Find out more, request your welcome pack today
Find out more, request your welcome pack today
