FAQs - Collecting Cord Blood

Cord blood collection is a procedure that usually takes less than five minutes immediately after delivery and can be performed in utero or caesarean deliveries and for multiple births. StemCord offers both the syringe or bag collection method, which gives your doctor a choice to use the method he or she prefers. With the syringe, the collection is similar to drawing blood for a blood test. After your baby is born and the cord has been clamped and cut, the blood will be drawn from the cord before it is discarded. The bag collection method is similar, except that only gravity is used to drain the cord blood into the collection bag. Everything your doctor needs is contained in the kit you receive upon enrollment.

At StemCord, we provide the gynaecologist with the option of both the bag as well as the syringe methods. The gynaecologist is free to choose the method he or she is most comfortable with. Our experience shows that the syringe technique consistently produced the best volumes as it requires an active process during collection. Overall, it is a superior technique. This issue of the bag versus the syringe technique was also studied in a scientific manner. The results were published in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal Medicine 1997;6:320-323.

There are no risks to both mother and baby as cord blood is collected only after baby is delivered and the cord is clamped and cut. The volume of blood collected is negligible and does not take away much blood from the mother.

No. After enrolment with StemCord, you will receive a cord blood collection kit for the collection of your baby's cord blood. Your kit contains all the items your doctor needs to collect your baby's cord blood. All you need to do is to take the collection kit with you to the hospital when you deliver.

After receiving your phone call following the delivery of your baby at the hospital, our transport personnel will pick up the cord blood sample directly from the hospital. The cord blood sample will be delivered to our laboratories at Singapore’s Science Park for processing and storage.

The amount of stem cells that can be collected varies from baby to baby, depending on whether they are small babies or there are thin cords. The amount of stem cells that can be extracted in turn depends on the volume of cord blood collected and the cell count.

It is important to maximise the volume of cord blood that can be extracted from the umbilical cord and the amount of stem cells that can be eventually collected.

The amount of stem cells collected depends on the cell count in the cord blood. The count obtained from one collection is usually at least 200 million and counts of over 1 billion nucleated cells occur in about 25% of StemCord’s collections. Hence, most of our samples are definitely sufficient for children. Many are also enough for an adult transplant of around 50 kg in body weight. For a successful transplant, at least 10 million nucleated cells per kilogramme are needed. In collections where the nucleated cell count is high, multiple usages are feasible.

Bacterial contamination is due to the bacteria present in the birth canal. In some pregnant ladies, there may be an overgrowth of these bacteria which may penetrate the umbilical cord causing the contamination. In addition, other factors such as premature labour, early rupture of water bag and thin cords will also increase the risk of bacterial contamination.

As such, it does not matter whether a syringe, one bag or three bag system is used to collect the cord blood as the problem is not with the collection method. It is intrinsic to the umbilical cord and not a result of laboratory activities. We see about one per cent of bacteria contamination in our collection. This is well within the worldwide reported figure.

If you do not reside in Singapore, international couriers will also provide customs clearance and guarantee the safe and quick delivery of your baby’s cord blood.