Cord blood is the blood in the baby’s umbilical cord. It contains stem cells that can be used to cultivate blood vessels, organs, and tissues. Cord blood banking involves collecting blood left in your newborn’s umbilical cord and placenta and storing it for future medical use. Cord blood contains stem cells that are potentially lifesaving cells. For cord blood storage, you have two main options; You can donate your baby’s cord blood to a public cord blood bank for anyone who needs it, or You can store your baby’s cord blood in a private cord blood bank for future use. Cord blood is collected right after birth. The collection process is painless. It has the following procedure, Clamping and cutting the cord After delivering the baby, whether vaginally or by Cesarean, the cord is clamped and cut in the usual way. You can delay cord clamping only for a brief period (not more than a minute or two). If cord clamping is delayed for too long, the blood will clot in the cord. And once the blood gets clotted, it’s of no benefit to anyone thus it can’t be collected for storage. Collecting the cord blood The medical provider then inserts a needle into the umbilical vein on the part of the cord that is still attached to the placenta.The blood (some 100 to 150 ml) drains into a collection bag.