Delayed clamping is where the clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord is delayed for a period of time so that the baby can get more of the cord blood. The theory is that adequate umbilical stem cells are good, more must be better and that cord blood banking thus takes valuable blood cells from the baby. There is no scientific evidence however that we are aware of that early cord clamping leads to a deficit of stem cells in the neonate or that delayed cord clamping has any impact on any neonatal system dependent on stem cells. The purported benefits are all entirely theoretical. In fact, some doctors suggest that “over inflating” the baby with cord blood by delaying the cord clamping too long could have serious detrimental effects on the baby. If you are concerned about this, ask your doctor. Delayed clamping however should not interfere with the cord blood collection. Usually the blood does not clot within the blood vessels of the placenta for at least 10-15 minutes so there should be plenty of time to do the collection.
Americord Registry is the only family cord blood bank headquartered in New York City. When considering fees over 20 years, Americord is the least expensive cord blood bank that is accredited by the AABB. Americord is pioneering new cell harvest techniques, called CordAdvantage, that will increase the number of stem cells available from each birth. See our comparison of cord blood banks here: http://cordadvantage.com/cord-blood-cost-comparison.html