There might be minimal or no blood to collect when all of the baby’s blood has transferred into the baby. The blood that remains in the umbilical cord connected to the placenta contains all the elements of blood – red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma, but it’s also rich in stem cells.

➜ Stems cells have the ability to grow into many different kinds of cells like bone marrow cells, blood cells or brain cells.

➜ These stem cells in your baby’s blood might play a role in healing after birth and in longer term protection from disease.

➜ It’s highly unlikely that anyone in your family would ever need your baby’s cord blood and your baby would probably need stem cells from someone else rather than their own stem cells.