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| Why Should I Preserve My Baby's Cord Blood? |
During pregnancy, the umbilical cord is the lifeline between mother and baby. Once the umbilical cord is discarded after your baby's birth, you lose the chance to preserve the precious stem cells it contains that are an exact match for your child. By preserving your baby's stem cells, he or she will have a guaranteed source of perfectly matched cells in the event a life threatening illness develops and the cells need to be used to combat the disease.
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| What Is The Difference Between A Stem Cell Transplant And Bone Marrow Transplant? |
Until now, the most common way to transfer stem cells from one person to another has been through bone marrow transplantation, which is a complex and risky procedure. Cord blood, a richer source of stem cells than bone marrow, eliminates many of the problems associated with bone marrow transplants should your child or other family member ever need such a treatment in their lifetime. With your child's own cord blood stem cells readily available, you do not have to look for a suitable match for your child, a painful bone marrow extraction procedure will not be necessary, and the risk of rejection is lower.
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| What Diseases Can Be Treated/Cured Through The Transplantation Of Stem Cells? |
Stem cells are used today in the treatment of leukemia, breast cancer, lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, Aplastic Anemia, Sickle Cell Anemia, various other cancers, blood diseases, hereditary/genetic conditions and immune system disorders. There are approximately 1.4 million new cancer cases each year. As stem cell transplants become routine, they may be used to fight lung cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, AIDS and many other genetic diseases.
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| If There Is A Family History Of Disease, Such As Leukemia, Would It Be In The Newborn's Genes? If So, Would Stem Cell Transplantation From The Cord Blood Still Be An Effective Way To Treat The Disease? |
Leukemia is not present at the beginning of life, but is developed by mutation or change in normal genes later in life. Stem cells in cord blood are "pure" cells, and are collected before any changes have occurred in their genetic make-up. In the case of other types of cancers (e.g. solid tumors), stem cells are not involved and can be used for transplantation.
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| Can The Baby's Stem Cells Be Used For A Sibling? Can They Also Be Used For A Relative Or Friend? |
Stem cells from a baby are a perfect match only for the baby or for an identical twin, and may be a very good match for a sibling. They can be used for a relative or friend if their cells closely match the baby's cells.
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| When And How Do You Collect The Cord Blood Stem Cells? |
The collection process takes place after delivery when the cord has been separated from your newborn infant. In no way does it interfere with the birth of your baby. Your attending physician, nurse or midwife collects the cord blood utilizing a sterile kit provided by Cord Partners. The collected cord blood is sealed in a specially designed package and delivered to our laboratory for testing and processing. Finally, the sample is cryogenically stored until it needs to be retrieved.
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| How Safe Is This For My Baby And Me? Will Either Of Us Feel Any Pain Or Discomfort? |
The first priority is the care and well being of the baby. Stem cell extraction is very safe because the blood is collected after the cord has been separated from your baby. Neither you nor your baby will feel anything since this procedure is only done after the cord has been detached. The only thing you will feel is the blood sample drawn from you for the purposes of maternal blood testing.
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| How Many And What Tests Are Done On The Blood Samples? |
The FDA requires the following tests be performed on the mother's blood and the cord blood. We conduct all these test and and additional three tests; one for bacterial contaminants to make sure that the product from the cord blood is sterile, and the other two to determine the number and viability of stem cells in the cord blood.
ABO/Rh - used to determine the blood type of the donor.
ALT (Alanine Aminotransferase) - used in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatic disease, heart disease and hepatotoxicity of some drugs.
RPR - qualitative screening test for the detection of syphilis.
Antibody Screen - used in the detection of unexpected antibodies to red cells in order to prepare or select donor units for transfusion.
HIV-1/2(Human Immunodeficiency Virus Types 1 and 2) - used to detect antibodies to HIV-1 and/or HIV-2 and to identify potentially infectious units of donated blood and plasma.
HTLV-I/II (Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Types I & II) - used as a screen for donated blood to prevent transmission of HTLV-I and HTLV-II to recipients of blood components.
HbsAg (Hepatitis B Surface Antigen) - used as a qualitative and/or semi-quantitative test of total antibody to Hepatitis B Surface Antigen as an aid in the diagnosis of Acute Hepatitis B.
NAT (Nucleic Acid Test) - used for screening blood donors at unknown risk for HIV-1 infection.
HBC (Hepatitis B core Antibody) - used for the detection of total antibody to Hepatitis B virus core antigen, screening of blood and blood products intended for transfusion and as an aid in
the diagnosis of ongoing or previous Hepatitis B virus infection.
HCV (Hepatitis C Virus) - used to detect antibody to Hepatitis C Virus.
CMV (Cytomegalovirus) Total Antibody - used as a screen for the presence of antibody to CMV in blood or plasma donors.
NAT-HCV & NAT HIV - Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) utilizes highly specific probes to detect the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and/or RNA (ribonucleic acid) of the Hepatitis C virus and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Confirmatory Tests performed in-house:
HIV-1 NAT Neutralization Test
HbsAg Confirmatory Test (Neutralization)
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| Do We Get The Results Of Any Tests That Are Done? What Type Of Follow Up Is There? |
Cord Partners will mail to your home a written report of all of the results within 4 to 6 weeks of your baby's birth.
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| How Long Can These Cells Be Stored And Still Be Usable? |
Currently, there is no determined "shelf-life" for cryogenically preserved cord blood cells. To date, the oldest cells required for use in a transplant were 15 years old. After that amount of time, there was no loss in cell viability or cell recovery rate.
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| At Some Point In The Future If My Child Or Another Family Member Needs These Cells, Can We Claim Them? |
The cells are uniquely labeled; no one can access these cells except you or your child when over the age of 18 years.
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| How Long Prior To My Due Date Should The Application Be Completed? |
We prefer that you contact us at least four weeks prior to your due date, which gives you time to review the materials and ask questions. However, Cord Partners will work to accommodate any last minute decision and ensure you are comfortable and prepared.
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| Is There A Fee For This Procedure? |
There is a one-time enrollment fee that includes the collection kit, processing, shipping*, and all associated tests, plus a small annual storage fee. Please refer to the Cord Partners Fee Schedule for current pricing.
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| Is There A Payment Plan Available? |
There are multiple payment plan options available through Cord Partners. Click here or or Please ask your local Partner for details AT 1-888-326-7235.
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| Is Stem Cell Preservation Covered By My Medical Insurance Plan? |
Some health plans are investigating whether to cover this procedure. We recommend you check directly with your provider to see if all or part of the costs may be covered.
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| What Happens If It Is A Multiple Birth? |
For multiple births, Cord Partners recommends collecting a sample from each child to ensure there is a match for each and enough viable cells are obtained. Cord Partners provides special pricing for parents planning a multiple birth.
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| When I'm In Labor, Or About To Deliver, I'm Not Likely To Be Concerned About Any Extra Details. What Happens When I Arrive At The Hospital? |
The only thing you will need to do is remember to bring the collection kit with you to the delivery room. We recommend packing it along with your other personal items in the overnight bag you have "ready to go" when you get close to your due date. Cord Partners will arrange to have the kit retrieved by our medical courier, at the birthing center once the procedure is complete.
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| Is My Birthing Specialist Familiar With The Collection Process? |
After you register with Cord Partners, we will send a letter to your caregiver informing them you have decided to save your baby's stem cells. We will then contact them directly to make sure they have all of the information they need. Keep in mind the collection process is very simple and easily performed.
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| Does My Birthing Specialist Charge For This Procedure? |
Because of the simplicity of the procedure, many caregivers do not charge for collecting your sample but we recommend checking with them directly. In the event the birthing specialist charges a fee, Cord Partners will reimburse you up to $100 to offset this cost.
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| Once Collected, How Do My Baby's Cells Get To Cord Partners' Lab? |
After your sample is collected and you are comfortable in your room, please contact Cord Partners’ 24x7 medical courier service. A shipping professional will arrange to have your sample picked up by one of their medical couriers and transported to the lab where processing and testing will immediately begin.
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| Can I take advantage of stem cell expansion technology if my sample is banked with Cord Partners? |
Pending FDA approval, the answer is YES! Stem cell expansion (also called amplification), will be available to anyone who has banked their child's stem cells. To put this in perspective, could you imagine a world in which penicillin was only made available to a fraction of the population who needed it for medical treatment? Neither can we. Companies are researching expansion to increase treatment options for doctor's and patients everywhere.
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| What is Cord Partners doing to prepare for stem cell expansion? |
In anticipation of amplification, Cord Partners stores your sample in dual chamber Med-Sep cryo-bags. These cryo-bags preserve your sample in a 5ml compartment and a 20ml compartment designed to accommodate expansion. This means the 5ml compartment can be accessed and expanded without disturbing the 20ml bag.
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| Is Cord Partners Licensed To Perform This Procedure? |
Yes, our lab is accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks and is licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health to store samples from all over the world.
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| Does The FDA Monitor This Process And Do You Have Their Approval To Do This? |
To date, the FDA does not regulate stem cell preservation. However, since our lab is a public Blood Center it must follow all FDA guidelines and regulations for the collection, testing and processing of blood and blood products. They monitor themselves and follow the same safety/sterile procedures in the stem cell preservation program that they do for all other programs. The tests performed on your sample are the same tests done on every unit of blood collected for the Blood Center.
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