You’ll spend nine months waiting and planning for baby’s arrival and when the big day arrives it will be one of the most important and special of your life. This is why we have designed our systems and processes to ensure that stem cell harvesting is quick, simple and safe, and does not get in the way of your birth plan or meeting your new baby when they arrive.
There is no step-by-step guide to how your labour will progress, so we offer a fully comprehensive 24 hours service to cover all eventualities:
- Customer care – our advisors are always available out of hours to deal with emergencies or any urgent queries you may have
- Medical courier – our specialist courier service is available at any time, day or night, to pick up your baby’s cord blood and return it to Cells4Life for processing
- Laboratory – our laboratory operates 24/7, 365 days per year to ensure that your baby’s stem cells will be processed as quickly as possible – this ensures a more viable cord blood sample
Who Collects the Cord Blood?
Cord blood collection is carried out immediately after delivery by your attending obstetrician or midwife, who is already supporting your birth. Using the specialised Cells4Life collection kit provided in advance, they will safely collect the cord blood once your baby has been delivered and the cord has been clamped and cut.
What Happens When I Go into Labour?
In the UAE, cord blood banking is typically discussed with expectant parents by their obstetrician or maternity care team during pregnancy. Once a decision has been made, there is no need to arrange any additional medical staff. You simply attend hospital as normal when labour begins, ensuring your Cells4Life collection kit is included in your hospital bag and that your maternity notes reflect your plan for cord blood collection.
Cord blood collection is then carried out at birth by your attending obstetrician or midwife, who is already supporting your delivery, using the specialised Cells4Life kit provided in advance.
How Does It Get Back to the Lab?
With stem cells, time is of the essence. Once your baby’s cord blood has been collected, you should notify Cells4Life immediately using the dedicated 24/7 contact number provided in your collection kit. Our team is available every day of the year to arrange prompt transport of the sample to our laboratory.
The collection kit is specially designed to maintain the correct temperature and protective conditions during transit, helping to safeguard the sample on its journey.
This fast, secure process ensures the sample reaches the laboratory in optimal condition for processing, helping to preserve the highest possible number of viable stem cells.
What If I Need More Help?
Our customer care team is available to deal with the unexpected or emergencies 24 hours a day. Whether labour has come on suddenly, you have left your cord blood collection kit at home, or anything else – our advisors are on hand to help in whatever they can. We can almost always make sure a cord blood collection takes place, no matter how little time we have to organise everything.
Stem cell harvesting is a simple, safe & painless process and our 24-hour support ensures we are here to help whenever baby decides to arrive.
Request an Info Pack
Find out more about cord blood banking by downloading an Info Pack now.
