Frequently asked questions

Upon admission to the hospital notify the healthcare team that you will be privately collecting your baby’s cord blood and/or cord tissue. When you arrive, either you, or one of your support persons, must call to give us prior notice that you have been admitted to give birth. Once the gynecologist has collected the cells, we will be notified by the ohspital’s clinical laboratory to go and collect them.

Once you go into labour, simply remember to bring the CellabKit to the hospital for the gynecologist to collect the cells.

For families who omit to bring their kit or who give birth sooner than expected Cellab do have a stock of kits available at Hospital Nostra Senyora de Meritxell.

Enjoy your new baby and recover. Your child’s cells are in the best hands and we will contact you to give you all the results within a few days.

Once the samples are back in the lab they go through the following rigorous processing steps before they are cryogenically preserved.

Once we have processed the blood cells and tissue we validate to ensure they are in perfect condition prior to cryopreservation.

We know the sterility of the sample a few days later as we send a small fraction of the blood to an external laboratory. As soon as we receive the results, we issue the final certificate.

At Cellab we do not invoice anything until we validate that everything is correct and we have sent you the final certificates.

Our administration department can arrange a charge to your current account or you can make a bank transfer.

Yes. We provide the option of financing through the main financial institutions of Andorra. Families can finance part or all of the cost of the service.

We preserve cord blood stem cells (hematopoietic cells – HSC) and cord tissue stem cells (mesenchymal cells).

They are currently used to transplant patients who suffer from blood-type diseases, mainly such as leukemias, lymphomas, anemias, etc. Cord blood is used to treat up to 85 different diseases in the world.

Cord tissue is rich in mesenchymal cells, a type of cell that has the ability to differentiate and help heal and regenerate damaged tissue. They are the potential of regenerative medicine and the cell therapies that are done with this type of cell are being studied.

It is collected just after delivery and before the placenta comes off. The collection process is done with a needle bag quickly in order to prevent all the blood from passing to the baby. Gynecologists are very familiar with this procedure as they have received specific training to perform the collection.

No. The blood is collected once the gynecologist has cut the cord and the process is painless, very simple and completely safe.

Yes, there is no downside.

In cases of premature birth, placental abruption or low birth weight babies, as it is more logical for blood to pass to the baby because of the benefits it brings.

Studies to date have shown that stem cells can be preserved indefinitely provided the cryopreservation technique is used (preserving them with liquid nitrogen below -150 ° C).

Every two years, we are accredited by the prestigious American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)  for all the processes used to ensure that families, like yours who trust Cellab do so with the highest quality criteria. In addition, the Andorran Government’s Ministry of Health, who authorize us, carry out regular inspections.