How It Works
We know you have plenty to plan for as an expecting parent, so our team has worked to make the cord blood banking process as easy, valuable and transparent for you as possible.
Cord Blood banking is an important decision and there is often a lot to think about. Below you’ll find our process laid out in six simple steps.
Our mission at Americord is to always put the expecting parents (and their newborn) first. Our stem cell specialists are always available to speak with you along the way.
The process of banking is quite simple:
We know you might have a lot of questions and a busy schedule. That’s why our stem cell specialists are available to help you make the right decision for your family, 24/7.
1. Sign Up
Sign up online or speak with one of our seasoned stem cell specialists to determine the right product(s) and payment options for your family.
Call us at 855.822.1999
Though uncommon, sometimes our clients sign-up at the last possible second. We’re ready for that. We’ll messenger your kit to you at the hospital if we need to! We don’t let anything prevent us from providing you and your family with the best service.
2. Get the Kit
We send you the kit you will bring to the hospital for delivery. We overnight kits free of charge if newborn is coming too soon and ground delivery might be too slow.
If you are also considering delayed cord clamping, our process is 100% compatible with that practice. Our sterile bags are especially important for C-section deliveries. Your medical team won’t allow any non-sterilized materials into the operating room, which means that collections can be substantially delayed without a sterile kit.
3. Welcome Baby!
Your baby is born and the umbilical cord is clamped. Your doctor or midwife draws the cord blood into the sterile bag provided in your kit. If you’ve chosen to bank cord and/or placental tissue, these tissues are placed in provided sterile bags as well.
Did you know that we once chartered a private plane to make sure a customer’s cord blood reached our lab in time when Hurricane Irma struck Florida? You made the important decision, we’ll make sure to take care of the rest.
4. White Glove Courier
Our white-glove medical courier arrives at the hospital to collect the cord blood (and tissues if you choose to bank those) and transport it to our laboratory facility.
We manually process all of our cord blood. That means an individualized process that can more efficiently preserve collections that are larger or smaller than average. It’s labor-intensive, but we think it’s worth it to take care of your family.
5. Peace-of-Mind
At the lab, our highly-trained, experienced staff perform all necessary quality assurance tests and separate stem cells from the whole blood collected. These stem cells are placed in specially-designed bags to ensure ideal storage and are preserved at -190°C in nitrogen-cooled tanks.
A Client Services associate will be assigned specifically to you, so you’ll have someone you can contact directly who knows you and your family. Our customer service isn’t just about willingness to help, it’s about learning what is helpful for you. One point of contact makes that possible.
6. Superior Service
We send you a Certificate of Storage letting you know that the stem cells you chose to bank with us are now safe and ready to be withdrawn if you ever need them. Our Client Services team remains available to answer any questions you may have at any time.
We want to make sure our families can stay up-to-date with Americord’s ongoing developments and innovations and the state of the broader regenerative medicine field. You can sign up for our mailing lists here for the latest updates and insights on Americord and the progress of stem cell medicine.
And if you ever have any questions about your newborn’s stored cord blood, you can always give us a call!
Quality Control Protocols
Americord® tests cord blood, cord tissue, and placenta tissue samples before and after processing as part of our quality control to ensure that each sample is contaminant-free on arrival and continues to be during processing in our laboratory. Our screening exceeds FDA regulations for testing and quality control.
Each client’s stem cells are stored in cryo-tanks using vapor nitrogen, which protects your family’s stem cells and eliminates the risk of cross-contamination from other samples.
Americord’s lab is CLIA Certified and located in Indianapolis. We provide our clients with only the highest quality processing and most experienced laboratory professionals. You can rest assured that your stem cells are stored safely in a facility that provides constant monitoring and backup measures in place to ensure continued storage during any type of natural disaster.
The laboratory staff is made up of highly experienced health professionals and technicians who work under the guidance and expertise of our Medical Director. This ensures that Americord® delivers the cutting-edge of new cord blood advances, while guaranteeing the safety, integrity, and viability of your baby’s stem cells.
Americord® maintains strict confidentiality of all client information. All Americord® employees sign confidentiality agreements because of the sensitive nature of your family’s medical information. We are subject to government regulations (as are your caregivers and insurers) that may require disclosure of certain, limited information under certain circumstances.