Simply put, cord blood is human blood collected from the umbilical cord of a newborn child. A few minutes after the baby is born and the cord cut from its navel, the mother will pass what is known as the “afterbirth,” the placenta and its attached portion of the umbilical cord.
Doctors take the cord and draw blood in a process similar to a blood transfusion. Additionally, the placenta can be transported to a laboratory to collect placenta blood (more questions about placenta blood banking are answered below). Because the cord blood is taken from the discarded cord (or placenta in the case of placenta blood) in a separate process, there is no risk to the mother or new born child.
Cord blood contains all the regular elements found in blood — red and white blood cells, platelets, and plasma — but is especially rich in hematopoietic stem cells.
Hematopoiesis is the process by which blood forms. Hematopoietic cells are necessary for this process, and the cells found in cord blood are similar to those found in bone marrow.
