Characteristics of umbilical cord blood units collected from preterm deliveries.

Background: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) banking is a well-established activity supporting the increasing number of UCB transplantations in haematological diseases. Our aim was to analyse the UCB characteristics of UCB units from preterm deliveries and compare them to full-term deliveries.

Material And Methods: A prospective study in 194 preterm deliveries occurring at the La Fe University Hospital in Valencia was performed.

Mode of collection does not influence haematopoietic content of umbilical cord blood units from caesarean deliveries.

Background: Collection strategy is the first step for collecting good quality cord blood units. There are two main different techniques for collecting cord blood from the umbilical vein: in the delivery room while the placenta is still in the utero by midwifes and obstetricians, or in an adjacent room after placental delivery by cord blood bank trained personal. Our aim was to evaluate the benefits and disadvantages between the two different cord blood collection strategies in caesarean deliveries.