Neither mother nor child endure any pain or stress during the removal of the umbilical cord blood. All the expecting parents will have to remember once they have decided to store the stem cells is:

• Request the removal set in a timely manner prior to the scheduled birth date from Cells4health

• Notify the physician or midwife in advance of the planned blood removal

• Bring the removal set to the clinic on the day of delivery

The procedure in detail:

Cutting of the Umbilical Cord
The umbilical cord of each baby is clamped immediately after birth. To ensure that the baby can benefit from its own biological blood reserve, the cutting of the cord should not be performed too soon. Research has shown that children whose umbilical cord was cut too soon have less iron in their blood than children who remained connected with the mother for a longer period of time via the umbilical cord. Consequently, the umbilical cord should not be cut any earlier than two minutes after birth. On the other hand it is important to be mindful of the fact that the quantity of vital stem cells in the blood is reduced over time, which is why no more than 10 minutes should pass until the blood is removed.

IMPORTANT: The wellness and health of mother and child are priority one! If there are any complications it is expedient to forego the removal of blood to give other healthcare measures required at the time priority.

Removal of the Blood
During the blood removal process, the baby may either rest in its mother's arms or placed into the care of the nurse or midwife. The objective is to remove as much blood as possible, given that the probability of being able to isolate a sufficient number of vital stem cells increases as the available blood volume increases. In most cases, the blood is collected prior to the ablation of the placenta. The advantage: the blood flow is slightly accelerated. Nonetheless, the blood may also be collected without any problems once the placenta has been ablated. The overall removal process only takes five to ten minutes. If a Cesarean was performed, the blood can also be collected directly from the umbilical cord or from the fetal end of the placenta. The collected blood quantity is relatively substantial.

Transportation
Subsequently, the bag containing the collected blood is safely placed into the transportation box. Research performed by Cells4health has shown that the stem cells can thus be kept vital for up to 72 hours after their removal. Nonetheless, the specimens should be delivered to the laboratory for preparation within 24 hours, however, no later than within 48 hours. If smaller quantities of blood have been collected, compliance with this time table is even more critical, given that the vitality of the stem cells does decrease more rapidly if their volume is smaller. The specially trained Cells4health courier service handles the rapid transportation of the cells.

Info: If the blood cannot be collected for any reason whatsoever, the patient will have to pay for the provided removal set. All other expenditures will be waived.