Utah Cord Bank and umbilical cord blood banking

Banking your baby's umbilical cord blood stem cells

If you or someone you know is expecting a child, now is the time to learn more about the benefits of umbilical cord blood banking. A safe and painless procedure performed by your physician or midwife after the delivery of your child can turn what would otherwise be discarded into a potentially life-saving medical tool. Sleep easier knowing that your baby's stem cells are safely stored should a future need for them arise. Explore this site or give us a call at 1-877-822-7836 to learn more about the benefits of umbilical cord blood banking today.

Reducing transit time and wait time before processing increases stem cell yield and viability. Utah Cord Bank is the only local company able to provide this service. Whether you deliver your baby at 1:00 in the morning or 1:00 in the afternoon a trained Utah Cord Bank courier will arrive within 2 hours to retrieve your umbilical cord blood. The stem cell extraction and cryogenic preservation process begin immediately after we receive your cord blood -- not the next day. Finally your cells are safely stored at our local storage facility until you decide to use them. At Utah Cord Bank we believe in keeping the important things at home.

What are stem cells?

The tissues and organs of the human body are made of diverse and specialized cells. During development, specific genes in cells are turned on or turned off in an incredibly complex series of steps, culminating in the specialized adult or somatic (resting) cells which make up newborn babies. Each of these specialized cell types is designed to do a few tasks proficiently and very little else. This cell specialization is permanent, the cells cannot revert back to a less-specialized cell. Because of this, If something goes wrong in one of the cell types or tissues, there are no other cells available to "fill in" and perform the specialized tasks and the life of the person is put in jeopardy. Stem cells differ from somatic cells because they are not yet completely specialized. When stem cells are placed in the proper environment with the right conditions, they can divide, multiply, and become any of a number of different cell types. You can picture stem cells as trunks or stems from which other cell types branch in the cell lineage family tree. Still present from early development, stem cells are highly abundant in umbilical cord blood. Currently, the safest, most plentiful, and least costly source of stem cells is umbilical cord blood.

Storing Your Newborn's Umbilical Cord Blood

There are many options for making the most of the blood contained in the umbilical cord. Public cord blood facilities exist in several states and countries which serve the public most often as an alternative to bone marrow transplants. However, public cord blood banking is very costly per unit because it is necessary to perform expensive HLA typing (for matching donor to recipient to avoid rejection of the cells by the recipient's immune system) prior to storage in order to maintain a database of available potential matches. Because the cost is so high, many public banks have been forced to refuse donations.

Donating cord blood to research is another option. The therapies of tomorrow are based on research done in labs and clinics today. Research using the stem cells contained in umbilical cord blood has led to great scientific discoveries which benefit mankind and promise to bring more benefit to mankind in the future.
As currently practiced stem cell therapies have improved, as the promise of future therapies has increased, and as public awareness of cord blood banking benefits has risen, private cord blood banking has become much more widely practiced. Private cord blood banking is currently practiced by many families in the U.S. and worldwide. Banking umbilical cord blood can benefit not only the donor child but the siblings and parents as well. The odds of a match among close family members are very high. The benefits of storing the stem cells can be realized today with any of the currently practiced stem cell therapies. In addition to current stem cell therapies, there is still much potential for new therapies in the future as exciting stem cell discoveries unfold as a result of rapid research advances in this field.

Safe Cord Blood Storage for the Wasatch Front

Until now, expectant Utah parents have had to rely on out-of-state companies to process and store their newborn's umbilical cord blood. Because timing is critical if cord blood is to remain viable for cryopreservation, costly and sometimes logistically and technically untenable transport requirements arise. Some doctors in Utah recommend against cord blood banking for this reason alone. A local cord blood bank removes these obstacles and keeps the stored cells close at hand if it becomes necessary to use them. Utah Cord Bank provides families with an affordable cord blood banking solution in a state of the art FDA registered facility. In addition to these important factors, Utah Cord Bank is a pioneer in forward looking stem cell storage implementing techniques and practices that improve cell yield, cell viability and flexibity and useability of the stored cells.