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Overview
Umbilical cord collection is a surprisingly simple, painless and noninvasive process. It takes the farm staff only a few minutes to collect the sample once your foal is born. LifeLine Labs provides a cord collection kit containing everything your farm staff needs. Following delivery of the foal and after delivery of the placenta, approximately 4-6 inches of the umbilical cord is cut, rinsed with fresh water and then swabbed with alcohol. The cord is then stored in the specimen jar pre- filled with a preservative. Collecting your foal’s umbilical cord does not interfere in any way with the birthing process or the immediate post- partum bonding between mare and foal
Umbilical Cord Collection Process
Step 1: Registration
Step 2: The Kit Arrives
• You will receive the Collection Kit once the registration process is complete. The Collection Kit contains everything that you will need for cord collection (specimen container with preservative, alcohol pads, specimen storage bags and instructions).
Step 3: Collect the Sample (This process should take a few minutes)
• Have all materials available
• Assess the mare and foal after birth
• The collection should not interfere with the normal delivery
• Once the afterbirth is delivered, clip approximately 4-6 inches from the end previously attached to the foal
• The cord should be rinsed gently with clean running water
• Swab the cord with the provided alcohol pad
• Place the cord in the specimen jar
• Refrigerate (DO NOT FREEZE)
Step 4: Transport the Cord
• Contact LifeLine Labs. We will arrange for a courier to come directly to your farm and transport the cord to our facility.
Once the specimen is received, several procedures are performed to isolate the stem cells from the umbilical cord. The cells are expanded (multiplied) in culture and aliquoted into vials for later use. The cells are banked in multiple vials so that when needed, a unit can be thawed and issued, while the remainder is stored. The stem cells are cooled with a controlled-rate freezer and subsequently transferred to a liquid nitrogen storage tank. The liquid nitrogen maintains cell viability by freezing the cells to -321. You will receive notification from LifeLine Labs that we have processed and stored your foals’ stem cells.
