A cord blood discount, coupon, and payment plan can save you $200 to $400 or more. Most cord blood storage programs offer discounts and other ways that make their services affordable for families. Use these tips to reduce the cost of stem cell banking, or spread it out into manageable payments:

1. Use a discount code. Many cord banks offer discounts via a code you can give when signing up online or by phone. These codes reduce the price of cordblood collection by $200 or more up front.
2. Use a payment plan. Most cord banks offer payment plans that reduce the initial cord blood banking cost to less than $90 per month. (Costs for Canadian residents are offered from US storage banks, but the rates differ slightly.) Often, families can sign up for a 6 month payment plan with no interest–when you determine the company you wish to go with, simply call a representative to inquire.
3. Use a gift registry so that friends and family can contribute to reduce your cord blood cost. Parents can announce gift registries as an enclosure with birth announcements, or sent as a link at the end of birth announcements sent via email.
4. Discounts for for multiples (twins, triplets, and other multiples). Some companies offer discounts of $1000 or more for each child born as a twin, triplet, or multiple whose cord blood is banked at their company.
5. Stay with the same cord bank for a discount with your next child. Most cord banks offer large discounts to repeat clients.  Some facilities offer $300 or more on cord blood collection and storage to repeat parents.

What is cord blood? After a baby is delivered, cord blood is left in the umbilical cord. It contains stem cells, or “master cells” that can make different types of tissue. The stem cells in cord blood can be used to regenerate bone marrow, blood, and skin. Cord blood can only be collected when a baby is delivered.

Why is cord blood important? The stem cells inside it can be used to grow new tissues and cells in the body. For this reason, cord blood stem cells have been used to cure diabetes, skin cancers, leukemia, bone marrow cancers, and other debilitating conditions. In order to work, the cells must be a match, so the best donor is one’s own cord blood stem cells. However, cord blood cells have been used to cure numerous conditions in siblings as well.

A cord blood bank is the place where a baby’s cord blood is stored. It can be stored for the duration of a person’s lifetime.  Currently there are numerous facilities in the US that store millions and millions of baby’s umbilical stem cells.

Cord blood banking cost includes a one-time upfront charge, plus a yearly storage fee. Clients can receive cord blood banking discounts on both fees with most major cord blood banks:

1. The total fee for collecting a baby’s cord blood is generally less than $2000. Save on cord blood storage by using a discount code. Usually companies provide an upfront fee for collection, storage, and shipping for the first year.
2. The yearly fee after this ranges from about $100-$150 per year for storage.
3. Use a payment plan to lower the cost to $90 or less per month to save cord blood. (For locations outside of the United States, call cord blood storage banks to ask about payment plans. Canadian residents can get payment plans at US or Canada facilities.)

After a baby is born and the umbilical cord has been cut, the doctor takes the cord blood. It takes less than five minutes and involves no contact with the mother or newborn. Cord blood collection is painless and clean.

Cord blood collection is simple for families. Just contact a cord blood bank to send a collection kit to the  expecting mother. The mother takes the kit to the hospital when she goes to deliver her newborn. The doctor or nurse collects and seals the baby’s cord blood, and a courier picks it up. (Sometimes a hospital will have collection kits that families can use for their newborn’s umbilical cord cell collection, but it’s safest to plan to bring your own kit.)

The cord blood bank arranges to have the sample picked up by a medical courier shortly after the delivery of the baby. The cord blood bank counts the number of stem cells that are present and living in the sample and properly prepares them for storage.