Cord blood cannot be stored in a regular freezer, it needs to be kept extremely cold, -130 degrees Celsius.  Because of this, it is stored in a nitrogen freezer.    There are 2 types of nitrogen freezers, liquid and vapor.  A liquid nitrogen freezer submerges the samples directly into the nitrogen.  A vapor nitrogen freezer uses nitrogen to chill the air within the freezer.

When cord blood storage first began, all cord blood was stored in liquid nitrogen freezers.  While it maintained temperature, specialists were concerned with the possibility of germs or bacteria being able to “swim” through the nitrogen from one sample to another.

Scientists began to develop other techniques to store cord blood.  They discovered that cord blood could be stored in vapor nitrogen, but, in the beginning, there were some issues with maintaining temperature.  Technology has developed rapidly since that time and now most cord blood is stored in vapor nitrogen with no danger of temperature fluctuations.  This eliminates any possibility of contamination while maintaining a constant temperature.

In addition, most laboratories, like M.A.Z.E. Cord Blood monitor the tanks’ temperatures electronically and have multiple back-up alarm systems to ensure the temperature is not compromised in any way.

Parents will often ask what is our method of cord blood collection.  We used a closed system because we believe it is the best way to prevent contamination.  The blood is collected in a bag and transferred through a tube into another bag for processing.  This prevents the cord blood from ever touching the air so it cannot be contaminated.  Although some laboratories still use the syringe method of collection, the closed method is becoming the industry standard and will soon be required of all labs.

Your health care provider should try to collect as much blood as possible.  This way, you have a better chance of getting a higher CD 34+ count.  When the blood is finally moved into bags for storage, a number of separate vials are kept so that if the blood is ever considered of transplantation, it can be checked and tested without thawing the entire sample.

Being located in New York, we work extensively with parents from as far away as California.  Sometimes, we will talk with the parents in California who worry that the travel from California to NY will cause something to go wrong with the cord blood.  We always assure parents that is not the case.  US regulations specify that the cord blood needs to be processed within 48 hours.  European regulators specify that the cord blood needs to be processed within 72 hours because they have found there to be no degradation in that time.  More often than not, we will process the blood within 24 hours.  We will constantly process the blood well within the 48 hours specified by regulation.  So don’t worry.  We can process your baby’s cord blood in plenty of time, no matter where you deliver.

Back in March, we wrote about a Today Show segment about a baby who had been treated for cerebral palsy using his own cord blood.  Another child from the Duke University study treating cerebral palsy has been introduced to the media.  A little girl from Colorado also received the cord blood stem cell treatment.  Read the full story here.