Why is Donating Cord Blood Important?
Public Donation vs. Private Storage
For more information, please call 800.804.6703.
Indiana Cord Blood Bank
1102 Indiana Avenue (N. Stadium Drive)
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Phone: 800.804.6703
Fax: 317.917.3444
How are the cord blood stem cells collected and banked?
If you would like to donate your child's cord blood for research or potential transplant, you must first go through what is known as an informed consent process. Federal law requires that parents sign a consent form before cord blood is collected. It is also necessary for us to obtain family medical histories and there are certain health requirements to be eligible to donate. Contact us at the ICBB for more information on these requirements and to obtain the required consent forms.
The Indiana Cord Blood Bank will provide a cord blood collection kit for retrieval of the blood after delivery of your child. This collection procedure results in no risk or stress to mother or baby. The Indiana Cord Blood Bank will provide your caregivers with all the necessary supplies and directions so they can recover your child's umbilical cord blood and ship it to our lab.
Because of the health requirements, a small volume of the mother's blood must also be collected at the time the cord blood is recovered. Within 7 days of delivery, this "maternal" blood sample must be tested for:
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), type 1
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), type 2
- Hepatitus B virus
- Hepatitus C virus
- Human T-cell lymphotropic virus, type I
- Human T-cell lymphotropic virus, type II
- Treponema pallidum (Syphilis)
- CytoMegaloVirus (CMV)
The cord blood itself will then be evaluated for cell count, and tested for contamination (by bacteria or spores in the delivery room). Finally, a small sample will be typed for:
- ABO group and Rh type
- HLA-A, -B, and -DR antigens
- Hemoglobin electrophoresis in ethnic groups at high risk for hemoglobinopathies
Finally, the cells will be cryopreserved (frozen) using methods developed by our own scientists through grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health1. The frozen cells are stored in our secure 24 hour alarm monitored cryostorage tanks. Because temperature is maintained through the use of nitrogen vapor, these tanks rely on no mechanical parts and require no external power source to keep samples frozen. Once securely banked in our systems, the cells are protected from virtually all biological degradation.
If for any reason it is determined that a unit is unsuitable for potential transplant, they can be used for research. Every effort will be made to ensure no cord blood unit goes to waste.
1 A novel frozen storage system for cord blood stem cells; NIH (NHLBI), Grant Number: 2R44HL65864-02; Awarded to Dr. E.J. Woods as Principal Investigator.