Amid the hustle, bustle and celebration of your baby’s birth, your doctor collects the cord blood and packs the unit to send to ViaCord. But what happens next? We asked Gail Foertsch, Senior Manager at the ViaCord Processing Laboratory (VPL), to give parents an inside look at how we process your child’s cord blood in our state-of-the-art facility. Here’s what she had to say:

“Delivered Safe and Sound
With the help of a private medical courier service specializing in transporting biopharmaceutical materials, collected cord blood units arrive at our AABB-accredited, CLIA-certified, FDA-registered and industry benchmarked facility just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. The first step we take is cross-referencing important information on the cord blood unit, including the mother’s name, ViaCord identification number and time and date of the collection, with our database. This ensures the safety and security of your child’s cord blood right from the start.

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We have great news—one of our colleagues had a baby! In addition to gaining a healthy and happy son, Lisa got an interesting perspective on cord blood collection—this time as a ViaCord customer.  We asked her to tell us about her firsthand experience with cord blood banking.

Once the decision was made, how did you go about making arrangements?

“I went through the same process as our customers do. Once I was enrolled and completed my forms, I received a confirmation e-mail followed by a voice message that my collection kit would arrive within 2 weeks (it actually arrived in 3 days). Then, as I got closer to my due date, I received a reminder message, so I didn’t forget my collection kit when we left for the hospital.

I also received literature in the mail, and honestly, I was impressed. Everything was clear and comforting for me as a mom. And as a ViaCord employee, it was reassuring to know that our customers experience the same.“

Anything you would change about the process?

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