Masks are optional in most areas at RVH. Signage and your care team will indicate if masking is required.

A
Print
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre
icon_give Donate Now
icon_give Donate Now
main image of RVH

Cord Blood Program

About

Cord Blood Programs provide parents with the opportunity to save and bank stem cells for future use should their child develop a serious illness.


RVH has partnered with Insception as an independent preferred vendor to ensure our patients are informed about Umbilical Cord Blood and tissue banking.

A portion of the revenues generated from Cord Blood collections at RVH is paid to the Birthing Unit to help support clinical research, education, and equipment for patient care.

  • RVH offers information about Cord Blood banking for your consideration.
  • Parents are under no obligation to utilize any stem cell blood bank services.
  • The agreement to utilize Cord Blood retrieval and storage services is between parents and the third party provider.
  • Parents are welcome to choose any Cord Blood Bank provider when delivering at RVH.

Insception Lifebank is Canada’s largest and most experienced family cord blood and tissue bank, with over 25 years of expertise. It is a subsidiary of CooperSurgical®, a renowned name in women’s healthcare, and is part of the world’s largest newborn stem cell preservation bank – with more than 1.2 million newborn stem cell samples stored.

RVH has partnered with Insception to ensure our patients are educated about umbilical cord blood and tissue banking. A portion of revenues generated from cord blood collections at RVH is paid to the hospital and directed towards supporting clinical research, education, medical equipment and other investments in patient care.

Below is information provided by Insception to assist you in making an informed decision about your cord blood and tissue banking options.

  • Cord blood is the blood that remains in your baby’s umbilical cord and placenta
  • Cord blood is a rich source of stem cells and other important cells
  • Cord tissue is a small segment of the baby’s umbilical cord, which is a rich source of different stem cells not found in cord blood

  • Cord blood is currently regulated for use as an alternative treatment to bone marrow1for diseases where a transplant is required2
  • Over 40,000 cord blood transplants3have been performed worldwide in the treatment of 80+ life-threatening diseases4, including leukemias, blood cancers, immune system deficiencies, and blood disorders
  • Your baby’s cord blood is a perfect match and is more likely to be a match for siblings than unrelated donors

  • The potential uses of umbilical cord blood and tissue are expanding rapidly
  • Encouraging research is currently underway that suggests that in the future cord blood stem cells may help treat conditions such as type 1 diabetes5, cerebral palsy6,7, autism8and other chronic illnesses
  • Cord tissue is not currently approved for medical treatments, however clinical trials and research are underway in disease conditions such as multiple sclerosis, ischemic heart disease and spinal cord Injury9, 10, 11

  • The collection process is simple and painless for both mother and baby
  • Can be collected at any birth – vaginal, caesarean, homebirth
  • After you enroll online, you will be sent a collection kit which you bring with you to the hospital
  • OBGYN or GP or Midwife will perform the collection of cord blood or cord blood and tissue

To receive your cord blood information kit, please click here to visit Insception Lifebank’s website

Families in need program

To ensure families have access to potential treatments or cord blood clinical trials, Insception offer the families in need program. This program provides the collection and storage of cord blood, free of charge, for children with a sibling with a haematological malignancy (ie. leukemia) or with cerebral palsy. Certain criteria needs to be met to be accepted into the program including approval from Insception’s Medical Director in consultation with the referring physician.

For more information There is only one opportunity to store your baby’s cord blood stem cells – at birth. For more information, please contact Client Services at 1(866)606-2790 or info@insception.com

Links are to Insception.com website, and will open in a new tab.

  1. Gluckman E, Broxmeyer HA, Auerbach AD, Friedman HS, Douglas GW, Devergie A, et al. Hematopoietic reconstitution in a patient with Fanconi’s anemia by means of umbilical-cord blood from an HLA-identical sibling. N Engl J Med 1989;321:1174–8.
  2. J Obstet Gynaecol Can 2015;37(9):832–844. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada: Umbilical cord blood, counselling, collection and banking.
  3. Karen K. Ballen et al. Umbilical cord blood transplantation: the first 25 years and beyond. Blood. July 25, 2013 vol. 122 no. 4 491-498.
  4. https://bethematch.org/Support-the-Cause/Donate-cord-blood/Cord-blood-is-changing-lives/
  5. Zhao BML Medicine 2012, He, B. et al. journal of Diabetes 2015;7:762
  6. Min K, Song J et al. Stem Cells. 2013 Mar;31(3):581-91.
  7. Duke University, USA/NCT01147653/Kurtzberg Completed  (*unpublished) Presented at CBS Jun 2015
  8. Dawson et al. Stem Cells Translational Medicine. 2017 Feb; 00:000-000 doi:10.1002/sctm.16-0474
  9. https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en
  10. https://clinicaltrials.gov/
  11. http://www.anzctr.org.au/