How to Collect Umbilical Cord Blood

There are two main methods that doctors use to collect Cord Blood from main umbilical vein, usually before or after the placenta is delivered.

To collect the Cord Blood after the baby is delievered, the umbilical cord is clamped off from the newborn after the placenta is delivered. It is then put into a sterile container where the umbilical cord is hanging by a support to let gravity do it’s work and drain up to 150ml of blood from the placenta.

Also note that additional Stem Cells can be collected from the placenta through Placenta Cord Banking facilities. This is only done once umbilical Cord Blood is fully drawn from the umbilical cord.

It is rare for the cord blood to be collected prior to the delivery of the baby, so there are no standard procedures for collecting the cord blood in this phase.