Cord Blood Banking Questionnaire and Answers

Collection of Cord Blood Sample

Will FamilyCord proactively contact the labor and delivery staff for you (or are parents responsible for keeping them informed and coordinated)?

Do doctors collect cord blood before or after delivery of placenta?

What collection method will be used?

What storage container will be used, vials or bag?

What equipment is provided in the kit for the physician, and are there any spares?

What instruction tools are provided for the physician?

Will FamilyCord proactively contact the labor and delivery staff for you (or are parents responsible for keeping them informed and coordinated)?

FamilyCord recommends parents to contact the labor and delivery staff so they can receive direct information from the hospital should any special arrangements be necessary. We can assist parents with any special needs they may have.

Do doctors collect cord blood before or after delivery of placenta?

It depends on your delivery as each delivery is different an unique. Ultimately, it is your physician's decision to collect the umbilical cord blood before or after the delivery of the placenta.

What collection method will be used?

FamilyCord follows the industry standard Gravity Bag method to collect a baby's cord blood.

What storage container will be used, vials or a bag?

FamilyCord follows industry standards and stores the cord blood in specially designed bags. This is the method used by all public banks as well as by most private cord blood banks. The transplant community has strongly urged all private banks to adhere to public banking standards and store cord blood stem cells using the bag method.

What equipment is provided in the kit for the physician, and are there any spares?

Everything the healthcare professionals need for collection is provided in the cord blood collection kit. If "spares" are needed, contact us and we can provide them.

What instruction tools are provided for the physician?

FamilyCord sends your obstetrician or nurse midwife written instructions in addition to video instructions (CD). There is also an extra set of instructions inside each cord blood collection kit. In addition, we are available 24/7 should questions or concerns arise before, during, or after the cord blood collection. We want to make sure the labor and delivery team feels prepared.

Shipping and Handling

Is shipping included in the contract?

On weekends, is the laboratory staff in-house or on-call?

Do we need to use FedEx or medical couriers?

Is shipping included in the contract?

Yes. Shipping is included in the contract.

On weekends, is the laboratory staff in-house or on-call?

Our laboratory staff is in-house on weekends as well as on-call 24/7.

Do we need to use FedEx or medical couriers?

FamilyCord has contracted with AirNet, a specialized medical courier, to pick up the cordblood at your hospital room and ship to our facility. Parents' responsibility is to contact AirNet when they are ready to request pick up. Please click here for detailed information.

Laboratory Testing

Will you notify the parents of the time at which the cord blood arrived and the time at which it was processed?

What tests are performed on maternal blood?

Is the cost of the maternal blood testing and collection of the blood included in the fees?

Do you ever reject samples on the basis of maternal tests?

Do you test the cord blood sample for infectious disease markers?

What other contamination tests are performed on the cord blood sample?

Do you ever reject samples that are contaminated?

Will you notify parents of the test results?

Do you maintain a separate "quarantine tank" for the long-term storage of blood that has failed one or more tests, or is the blood stored together regardless of testing status?

By which organizations are you accredited?

Some states license cord blood banks (NJ, NY): Do you operate in those states?

Will you notify the parents of the time at which the cord blood arrived and the time at which it was processed?

FamilyCord contacts parents once hte cord blood has arrived and has been processed. Parents also receive two written reports on the results of the tests done on the cord blood and maternal blood.

What tests are performed on maternal blood?

We follow industry standards provided by the AABB and FDA. An infectious disease test panel is run on the maternal blood sample.

Is the cost of the maternal blood testing and collection of the blood included in the fees?

Yes. All the costs for processing, testing and stroing the umbilical cord blood is included in our fees.

Do you ever reject samples on the basis of maternal tests?

Yes. Samples are rejected if maternal blood tests positive for infectious diseases such as HIV, AIDS, Syphilis, etc. Parents are notified of the results and their options are discussed in detail. It is our policy not to store cord blood from mothers who test positive for HIV, HTLV and HBsAg.

Do you test the cord blood sample for infectious disease markers?

No. Testing is done on the maternal sample as is recommended by industry standards.

What other contamination tests are performed on the cord blood sample?

We run bacterial and fungal cultures on the cord blood unit.

Do you ever reject samples that are contaminated?

No. Contaminated samples are not rejected.

Will you notify parents of the test results?

Yes. We provide two reports to parents. A preliminary report is sent within days of processing and a complete report and certificate of storage is sent within three to four weeks.

Do you maintain a separate "quarantine tank" for the long-term storage of blood that has failed one or more tests, or is the blood stored together regardless of testing status?

Yes. We maintain a "quarantine tank" for samples awaiting the results of the maternal blood testing for cord blood storage.

By which organizations are you accredited?

We are accredited by the AABB (American Association of Blood Banks). We are registered with the FDA, certified by CLIA, and licensed by the states of California and New York.

Some states license cord blood banks (NJ, NY): Do you operate in those states?

We are licensed in the states of New York and California. New Jersey requires our medical director to have a medical license to practice medicine in New Jersey. Our Medical Director, Dr. Michael Lill, is licensed to practice medicine in the state of California.

Processing

Is the blood stored whole or processed to separate mononuclear cells (MNC)?

What is the minimum volume you will accept for storage?

Is the blood stored as a single unit or several samples?

Is the blood stored whole or processed to separate mononuclear cells (MNC)?

The cord blood is depleted of red cell and plasma prior to storage.

What is the minimum volume you will accept for storage?

We do not reject samples based on volume. The number of cells and viability defines acceptability. Our current minimum total nucleated cell count is 70 million cells.

Is the blood stored as a single unit or several samples?

We store the cord blood in a specially designed bag that has multiple compartments and three segments. We also store vials of plasma, red blood cells and maternal serum for potential future testing requirements.

Storage Facility

Do you operate your own storage facility or lease space in one? In what type of facility is the bank located?

What is the geographic location of the storage facility and the processing lab?

Are the cord blood samples in a separate freezer or mixed with other medical samples?

What type of freezer fo you use?

Do you freeze in liquid nitrogen or vapor nitrogen?

What type of records do parents received after storage?

Does the contract state that the storage fee is fixed, or may it increase later?

Does the bank reserve the right, in the contract, to change storage facilities?

Do you operate your own storage facility or lease space in one? In what type of facility is the bank located?

We own and operate our own facility thus allowing our cost for cord blood storage to remain low. Our laboratory storage facility is located in our own building.

What is the geographic location of the storage facility and the processing lab?

We are located in Los Angeles, CA.

Are the cord blood samples in a separate freezer or mixed with other medical samples?

We only store stem cells in our tanks for cord blood banking.

What type of freezer fo you use?

We use liquid nitrogen freezers.

Do you freeze in liquid nitrogen or vapor nitrogen?

During the freezing process, we use a controlled rate freezer using vapor nitrogen. The actual storage takes place in liquid nitrogen.

What type of records do parents received after storage?

Parents receive two reports detailing volume of blood collected, cell count, viability, CD34 results, bacterial and fungal culture results and the baby's blood type.

Does the contract state that the storage fee is fixed, or may it increase later?

Our storage fee is guaranteed not to increase more than 5% per year, as stated in our contract. Parents are also able to purchase long-term storage plans to lock their storage fees for the storage plan period.

Does the bank reserve the right, in the contract, to change storage facilities?

Yes, we do, as most banks do.