Cord Blood must be Handled Carefully

Once collection of the Cord Blood is completed, it must be immediately shipped to a Cord Blood bank, either private or public. Once the Cord Blood arrives at the cord blood bank, it is inspected for infections and technicians there examine the tissue type. Once that is completed, the cord blood goes through processing where it is drained of it’s red blood cells and the stored in liquid nitrogen for later use.

Parents have the option of storing their child’s cord blood in either a private or public cord blood bank. The storage of cord blood at a private blood bank can range in price, but usually is about $2000 USD for collection and $125 a year for storage.

It should be noted that several cord blood banks take donations and the storage of the cord blood is usually free of charge, but the fee for collecting the cord blood is usually about $100-$125 dependent on the OB/GYN’s rate. It is no uncommon though for the OB/GYN to donate their time to make the donation process as free as it can be.