How and when is umbilical cord blood obtained?

Umbilical cord blood is collected after the baby has been delivered and the umbilical cord has been clamped and cut. Using sterile techniques, a trained physician or midwife inserts a sterile needle into the umbilical vein to allow drainage of the blood by gravity into a sterile container with anticoagulant. The entire collection process takes about 5 minutes. The collected unit will be transported to our laboratory for further processing, testing and storage.