Our Services
We at LifeCell are dedicated to providing you the best possible cord blood banking process. We have developed our processes in accordance with international standards and have ensured that we follow best practices every step of the way.

Our banking service starts even before you sign up. If you are interested in stem cells & umbilical cord blood banking and would like to know more, we are happy to give you a presentation, at a time convenient for you.

The Registration Process
This is a simple process. You are required to complete and sign an enrollment form, mother-to-be's health history form and a client agreement form. Once the paperwork and payments are done, we send you a cord blood collection kit that can be used to collect the umbilical cord blood, after the delivery of your baby.

  Domestic Enrollment Form (218 KB)
  International Enrollment Form (211 KB)
  Client Agreement (1,116 KB)

Pre-Collection
We send all our customers our specialized cord blood collection kit which contains everything your doctor needs, including instructions, to collect the cord blood. Most doctors do not have a problem performing this simple procedure. However, it is essential that you discuss your decision to bank your baby's cord blood and check with your doctor prior to collection whether they will perform the procedure.

Check out the contents of our collection kit:

On The Way To The Hospital
Make a phone call to let us know that you are about to deliver your baby and we will immediately dispatch a courier to your hospital who will then pick up the cord blood once it is collected, packed and ready to be shipped.

Collection Process
Your doctor or midwife in charge performs the collection process. The collection of the cord blood occurs after your baby is born and his umbilical cord is cut and clamped to stop the outflow of the blood present in the cord. As collection can be performed in-utero or ex-utero, this choice is left to your doctor who is the best judge of the situation. Depending on whether the birth is a vaginal delivery or a caesarean section, your doctor can make a decision on collecting before or after the delivery of the placenta.

The collection of the cord blood is a simple and short procedure that does not take more than 10 minutes. After baby is born, the doctor will clean and sterilize the umbilical cord with the iodine and alcohol swabs provided in our kit. Once cleaned, the sterile needle, with one end attached to the blood collection bag, is inserted into the maternal side of the cord. The blood is allowed to drip by gravity into the bag. This usually takes 3-5 minutes and when there is no more blood left, the needle is taken out and reinserted into the umbilical cord, closer to the placenta. This allows some remaining blood to be collected, thus increasing the total volume of blood collected.

Click here to view our collection process

After collection of the blood, the needle and connecting tube is cut and removed, and the tubing emerging from the bag is clamped and knotted twice. This prevents the leakage of any blood. The unique bar coded label, sent along with the kit, is applied to the bag. The bar coded labels help identify the cord blood through out the process, when it reaches the lab.

The blood bag is carefully placed in a plastic bag and the bag sealed. The cord blood bag is packed in between the two gel packs which are placed on either side of the bag to maintain the temperature. Please note, the gel packs must be pre-cooled in a deep freezer for at least 30 minutes before they are to be used. Otherwise, the cord blood could clot and cells could get damaged (haemolysed).

The bag is then sealed in the box provided in the kit and a customer information card is filled out and placed along with the box in a kit container, which is then handed over to the courier.

Shipping Of Cord Blood
When you register with us, we help in arranging for a suitable courier who will transport the cord blood to us, safely. The best suitable logistics plan is offered to our customers and we bear the courier charges. Once you leave for the hospital, call us so that we may contact the courier on your behalf. The courier collects and safely transports the cord blood to our lab in Keelakottaiyur within 48 hours.

Processing Of Cord Blood
As soon as we receive the cord blood, we inform parents of the safe arrival of the sample. The maternal sample is tested for infectious diseases and the cord blood sample is tested for bacterial growth when it arrives at the LifeCell lab. This testing is necessary to check the status of the sample and to see if any infection is present in the blood. This is a mandatory requirement as per the cord blood banking regulations.

Click here to view tests performed on maternal blood:

The Indian Government's current mandate says that HIV positive blood samples cannot be stored and have to be discarded. If the maternal sample is positive for HIV, we do not test the cord blood for HIV. If the mother's blood tests positive for HIV, then we discard both the cord blood and the maternal sample.

The list of routine tests performed for cord blood is:

Once the tests are performed, the processing of the cord blood begins. We separate the stem cells from the red blood cells and the plasma. This is done in two stages, volume reduction and separation to isolate stem cells.

The cord blood is processed in a 'class 100 clean room'. This means that there are no more than 100 particles (that can cause contamination) per cubic foot of air. The stem cells undergo all processes in a controlled temperature with minimal manipulation which helps us store cells with greater viability.

Reporting Test Results
All the results of tests performed on maternal and cord blood are documented and a report is prepared and sent to all our customers. If samples test positive for any infectious transmissible diseases, the parents are duly informed. The cord blood may either have to be quarantined or discarded. In such cases we discuss the issue with parents before any steps are taken.

Storage Of cord blood Stem Cells
If the cord blood is found fit for storage after processing, we store the cord blood in cryo-bags by controlled rate freezers cooled by Liquid Nitrogen (which takes the temperature of the cord blood from +1^o Celsius to -140^o Celsius in about 45 minutes).

The stem cells are placed in a 25ml cryo-storage bags for freezing and storage. We use a small amount of your baby's own plasma and Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO), which acts as a cryo-protectant to protect the cells and keeps its internal structure intact. The DMSO solution can be spun out of the cell in the future, when it is needed for transplant and cells can be washed off.

Your baby's cord blood sample is stored in a set that constitutes a 20ml main cryo-storage bag + 5ml satellite cryo-storage bag. This provides the family a significant benefit in the future, since the cells may be used for more than one treatment.

Each cryo-storage bag is bar coded and clearly marked with Cord Blood Identifying Number, Account Number, Date of Processing and Contents. Each cryo-storage bag is individually wrapped using a cryo-sheath to protect against any contamination.

The cryo-storage bag then enters the first stage of the cryo-preservation process, in a control-rate freezer, in a preset process. The correct point is already mentioned above!! Is this a repetition? We use this technique of slow-rate introduction to ensure the safety of the cells. The progression to lower and lower temperatures keeps the cells from going into shock from the extreme negative temperature of -196^o Celsius. This temperature is an absolute necessity as it has been shown that there is no biological activity below -160^o Celsius.

Accessing The Stem Cells
We do not allow access to the stem cells without a written request from the customer. The request must have attached a doctor's report that states the nature of the disease, the need for the stem cells and details of the transplant that is to occur. You are also required to sign a form that releases us from liability after the stem cells leave our lab.

Should you ever need your baby's stem cells for a transplant, we do everything we can to make this process simple for the customer.

We are equipped to transport the stem cells to wherever you may require in India and GCC. We ship the stem cells in a 'dry shipper' that can maintain a temperature of -196^o C up to 14 days. The stem cells should not be x-rayed and should be handled with utmost care and so we also arrange for the Civil Aviation Ministry to give a clearance for the stem cells to be transported.