Posted in collaboration with cells4life
Delayed cord clamping, which involves waiting more than one minute before cutting the umbilical cord, has become increasingly popular across the UK. It is now recommended by NICE, WHO, and the Royal College of Midwives, and is also standard practice at most NHS trusts.
At the same time, more and more parents are choosing to bank their baby’s umbilical cord blood. This blood is a rich source of powerful stem cells, which already treat more than 85 conditions and could soon be used in therapy for others such as autism, cerebral palsy and stroke.
Is cord blood banking compatible with delayed cord clamping?
After delayed cord clamping, the amount of cord blood available for collection is reduced – sometimes from as much as 55ml with immediate cord clamping to just 20ml.
This has led to a perceived conflict between the two, as most technologies that are used to process cord blood require at least 40ml of fluid. Additionally, even when a sample is big enough to process, it may not contain enough cells to be therapeutically useful.
Now, this conflict has been resolved by a new technology called TotiCyte, which can effectively process samples as small as 10ml. And, because it retains 3 times more cells at the point of treatment than any other method, these small samples should still be therapeutically useful.
What options do I have for cutting the umbilical cord?
Cord clamping is usually performed in three ways:
- Immediate (or early) cord clamping – cutting the cord within 60 seconds
- Delayed cord clamping – waiting more than one minute
- Optimal cord clamping – waiting 5+ minutes or until the cord stops pulsating.
Why should I wait to clamp the cord?
Recent research shows that delayed cord clamping gives babies a healthier start in life.
For example, the BMJ says delayed cord clamping reduces the risk of complications such as anaemia, haemorrhages, infections, and intestinal damage. 34% of babies are born with iron-deficient anaemia, so the impact of DCC could make a big difference.
Delayed cord clamping has also been found to provide baby with as much as 30% extra blood. As babies are born with just 66% of their total blood supply, it could be vital to both their short and long-term development.
In fact, doctors have recorded higher iron levels in babies who received delayed cord clamping for up to six months… and improved neurological and motor skills development for up to four years.
Why should I choose cord blood banking?
Cord blood banking is the process of procuring and storing blood, and sometimes tissue, which remain in the umbilical cord after birth. It could protect a baby’s health for their entire lifetime, granting them access to potentially life-changing therapies, if and when they need them.
Baby cord blood stem cells can also be used by close relatives – siblings have a 75% chance of being a perfect match, and parents also have a chance of being a good enough match.
Find out more about how you can give your baby a healthy start with delayed cord clamping and a healthier future with cord blood banking here: https://cells4life.com/cord-blood-banking-overview/delayed-cord-clamping/
About Cells4Life
Cells4Life is the UK’s leading private cord blood bank, which procures, processes and stores blood left in the umbilical cord for future therapeutic use. To date, Cells4Life has stored for more UK parents than any other bank and also released 13 samples for use in some of these cutting-edge treatments.
Cells4Life CellsPlus service uses TotiCyte, a revolutionary cord blood processing technology that retains 3x more stem cells at the point of therapy than other method.
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