When you bank your baby’s cord blood, the mother will be required to provide a blood sample.  Our lab will use this sample to do an infectious disease screening, which is kept on file with your baby’s cord blood.  It is an FDA requirement; if you ever need your baby’s cord blood the attending medical professional will get a copy of this report. Sometimes, getting a sample of the mother’s blood becomes more challenging than anyone expects.  This blood sample must be drawn prior to receiving 2 liters of IV fluid when the IV fluids have crystalloids, colloids or other blood products. Most mothers receive IV fluids with crystalloids during labor.  And sometimes they forget to ask their nurse or doctor to do the blood draw prior to receiving IV fluids.

If this happens to you, do not panic, this is something that happens all of the time and is easily resolved. If you receive 2 liters of fluid before the blood draw you can simply wait one hour after completing the IV fluids and ask a medical professional to do the blood draw before the courier arrives to pick-up your baby’s cord blood and bring it to our lab.

If this is not possible we’ll send you a new maternal blood draw kit which you can use when you see your doctor for a follow-up visit.  The kit has everything you need, including a return FedEx label with our lab’s address and our FedEx account number so we pay the shipping charge. So, if this happens to you, don’t worry. You’ve got a new baby to enjoy, let us handle the rest.