Cord blood banking is the storage of your child's cord blood either in a public or private cord blood storage bank. Cord blood banks have developed since the mid to late 1990s in response to the potential for cord blood transplants in treating diseases of the blood and immune systems. But, cord blood banking isn't routine in hospital or home deliveries - it's a procedure you have to choose and plan for beforehand, so be sure to consider your decision carefully before delivery day.


      If you donate your child’s cord blood, it goes into a public bank where it is stored for anyone to use. If you privately store your child’s cord blood, it is always available for your child or family to use. When the cord blood is received by the storage facility, it is tested to see if it contains enough blood-forming cells. If it passes this initial test, it is HLA typed, frozen and stored in a liquid nitrogen freezer. Most private facilities use a cryogenic controlled-rate freezing process for long-term storage and special cryo bags that have separate storage compartments. If you do not save your baby's cord blood, it will be discarded after birth.