Our advice panel is a hub for all information relating to our company

If you have any questions surrounding our services, our advice panel offers a plethora of information and aims to answer any frequently asked questions

Current data, based on scientific studies, proves that cord blood stem cells are still perfectly viable up to 29 years from the date of storage

It is though, highly likely that your sample will be perfectly safe and useable for a much longer period than this. At Future Health, we think it is more ethical to offer to store your sample for 25 years initially, but of course, we will contact you towards the end of this storage period to offer you the chance to extend it further.

Once you have decided which level of service you’ll require, we’ll ask for the initial setup fee

See our prices page to confirm your order. From then, no further payments will be taken until after your baby is born, and we have successfully processed and stored your samples.

Following confirmation, you’re able to pay in instalments over a period of up to 12 months.

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Yes. We understand expecting multiple babies is both daunting and expensive!

At Future health, we specialise in multiple births and we offer special discounts for twins and triplets. Please call us to obtain a quote.

Yes.

We welcome back all of our repeat clients with a 20% discount from the standard service price. Please call us for a quote!

The short answer is yes we do!

When the company first opened its doors in 2002, we had already installed the most technologically-advanced laboratory at our headquarters in Nottingham, the heart of the UK. Being a company based on quality, we ensured that we had the most up-to-date facilities. The following ten years led to a great deal of success for Future Health Biobank, with our international expansion rapidly progressing we built our second laboratory in Switzerland. This new addition meant that we could serve our customers quicker whilst offering a location storage choice, something that no other stem cell bank could offer.


Various storage temperatures

We are proud to be able to offer an array of storage temperatures; -20 degrees, -80 degrees, -196 degrees, liquid nitrogen and vapour phase nitrogen. This ensures that we can successfully store all samples at the required condition.

Future Health Biobank was incorporated in 2002, following 3 years of intensive scientific research

We are proud to be one of the longest running family banks in Europe as well as by far the largest stem cell bank in the UK. We have now processed and stored more than 150.000 cord stem cell samples from 75 countries around the world which is more than all of the other UK stem cell banks combined.

Cord blood contains HSC’s (Haematopoietic stem cells) which are used in the treatment of blood related diseases such as leukaemia, anaemia and thalassemia

There have been over 40,000 lifesaving stem cell transplants, for 85 conditions, performed using these stem cells since 1988.

Cord tissue contains cells with marker characteristics consistent with populations shown to have therapeutic value which are currently being used in over 300 clinical trials around the world for regenerative medical purposes and the treatment of life altering conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cerebral palsy.

Each sample is protected by our insolvency protection scheme, meaning that in the highly unlikely event Future Health becomes insolvent, your sample will be transferred to another suitable HTA licensed facility, who will fulfil the terms of your original agreement

Each and every plan we offer is backed up by an insurance policy that will finance any actions that need to be taken.

All of our storage tanks are alarmed and monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and can run without electricity for up to 5 days if required. If any of our storage tanks needed to be moved off site, they would be sent to another HTA licensed facility.

Stem cells are the building blocks of life, they create a direct link between your child’s good health at the time they are born and their good health in the future

Should your child face any of a vast range of health issues in later life, stem cells may be the key to repairing and restoring their health.

Umbilical cord blood stem cells are already being used in the treatment of over 85 medical conditions including leukaemias, anaemias and thalassemias and the list is constantly growing. Cord blood stem cell collection is an incredibly simple process in which these unique cells are collected from the umbilical cord once the baby has been safely delivered.

Umbilical cord tissue cells can be collected at the same time as cord blood stem cells. This process simply involves taking a sample of the cord tissue and then processing and storing at our laboratory in Nottingham.

To date over 40,000 cord blood samples have been used in clinical applications all over the world since 1988

It is advisable to store samples for each child individually to ensure you have a cord blood unit that is a 100% match for that child should they need it

There is also a 25% chance that a cord blood sample belonging to one child will be a match for a sibling though.

It is highly likely that your sample will be perfectly safe and useable for a much longer period than this. At Future Health, we think it is more ethical to offer to store your sample for 25 years initially, but of course, we will contact you towards the end of this storage period to offer you the chance to extend it further.

A typical sample of cord blood will contain a volume in the region of 20ml to 60ml although this can differ dramatically due to the size of the placenta and circumstances at birth

We can process any sample, though we do set a stringent success criteria based on the number of stem cell within it. The sample must contain a minimum number of CD34+ stem cells in order for us to deem it successful and suitable for long term storage. If your cord blood sample does not meet this requirement, you will have the option to decline storage and we will not charge you anything further.

There are several hospitals in the UK where you can choose to donate your cord blood stem cells into the public banking system

Your cord blood stem cells could then be used to treat someone else around the world. However, you will no longer have direct access to this precious sample.

Once your cord blood and cord tissue samples have been successfully processed and stored you will receive confirmation in writing along with your storage certificate containing the unique identification number for your samples, the stem cell (CD34+ and CD45+) counts, your maternal blood testing results and microbiology results.

Currently, stem cells from cord blood can be used to treat a wide host of conditions including:

Disorders of blood cell proliferation (Anaemia, platelet abnormalities and more)

Inherited immune system disorders (Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), Neutropenias and more)

Cancers (Leukaemia, Bone Marrow cancer and more)

Inherited Metabolic Disorders (Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) Storage Diseases, Leukodystrophy Disorders and more)

Inherited Disorders effecting the Immune System & Other Organs (Cartilage-Hair Hypoplasia, Gunther’s Disease)

Storing your child’s stem cells with Future Health is a simple process and our customer care team will take care of everything for you.

Simply contact us on 0115 967 7707 021 948 2948 or email custcare@fhbb.com info@futurehealthbiobank.ch and we will send you an information pack and an agreement to complete.

We will then send you a collection kit in which all the information required for the collection will be included.

Umbilical cord blood stem cell collection is a simple, non-invasive procedure

Once you have ordered your stem cell collection with our customer care team, we will post out a collection kit to your home. This kit needs to be kept safe, away from any radiators and ideally with your overnight maternity bag.

Once you go into labour, simply take the kit to the hospital with you. Once your baby has been safely delivered, the health care professional will extract the cord blood. This is a very quick and non-invasive procedure and won’t interrupt your precious time with your baby. The health care professional will then securely package the stem cells into the provided collection kit.

Then all that is required is that yourself or your partner calls us to arrange collection of the kit. The sample is then delivered directly to our laboratory and will be processed and prepared for storage. Our customer care team will then be in touch will a follow-up call with the results and status of your sample.

On receipt of your paperwork and deposit payment, we will arrange delivery of your collection kit

When it arrives, simply keep it near your maternity bag and take it with you on the big day.

When the big day arrives and you go to hospital remember to take your collection kit.

Once your baby has been safely delivered, your assigned healthcare professional or phlebotomist will collect your baby’s cord blood, cord tissue and the maternal bloods before placing them in the collection kit.

When the health care professional hands you back the collection kit, text ‘COLLECT’ to our dedicated medical courier on 021 948 2948 between 08.00am and 08.00pm, 7 days a week to request a courier collection.

We will process and safely store your samples, notify you of the results by phone, confirm your results in writing within 3 weeks and issue your storage certificate.

Most often, a phlebotomist will be required to collect your cord blood and tissue samples at the hospital and we will arrange this for you

However, in some cases, your private consultant or midwife may be able to collect the samples for you.

Yours samples will be transported using our own dedicated medical courier who will collect your baby’s cord blood and tissue from the hospital or your home and deliver it straight to our laboratory 365 days a year.

All collection kits are designed to maintain room temperature (do not put them in a fridge or freezer) to keep the sample in optimum condition until it reaches our laboratory. All collection kits include a gel pack which ensures the sample maintains the required temperature during shipping.

We will process your samples generally within 24 hours of the collection

Our laboratory is open for processing 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year, ensuring all samples are processed well within our regulatory guidelines, giving clients the best possible results.

All cord blood samples must be processed before storage, to ensure they are stabilised prior to cryopreservation in Liquid Nitrogen

During processing, each sample is condensed and split into multiple portions, meaning should you require your child stem cells in the future, only one segment needs to be used, leaving the rest intact for use in future treatments.

Each sample is processed individually by our highly experienced and qualified laboratory technician. We don’t use a fully automated system where multiple samples are processed simultaneously, as processing multiple samples at once could put your sample at risk of contamination.

Both our Premium (Volume Reduced) and Standard (Whole Blood) cord blood packages make provision for future scientific development by storing more than just HSC’s

If you opt for our Premium service, we will store what we call the buffy coat layer (this layer contains all stem cells found in the cord blood). This is likely to contain other types of stem cells like mesenchymal stem cells and VSEL’s which could be of benefit in the future as clinical applications progress with scientific research.

Your child’s cord blood and cord tissue samples will be processed and stored at our specialised facility in Châtel-St-Denis

We will NEVER send your samples to be stored by a third party, as we believe this can put your samples at unnecessary risk.

Each sample will be split into multiple portions within our specially designed double-wrapped casing before freezing, enabling your child’s sample to be used several times to treat life-threatening conditions, if required.

All of our storage tanks are individually alarmed and monitored 24/7, 365 days a year.

Once your cord blood and cord tissue samples have been successfully processed and stored you will receive confirmation in writing along with your storage certificate containing the unique identification number for your samples, the stem cell (CD34+ and CD45+) counts, your maternal blood testing results and microbiology results.

We hope you never need to use your sample, but if you do, we will organise everything for you

After arranging the consent papers with you, we will work with your doctor to arrange the safe delivery of your sample to the transplant facility on the given date and time.

No.

We will not charge you for the release of your sample if your family needs it for use in a treatment.

The care provided to you and your baby at such a critical time is of the utmost importance so we would not do anything to jeopardize this

It is therefore standard practice to only collect the stem cells once the third stage of labour has been successfully completed and both you and baby are safe and comfortable.

No

Whether you opt for a natural delivery or caesarean section, managed or physiological third stage of labour, there should be no problem collecting your baby’s stem cells. For this reason, we do not recommend your birth plan is altered or compromised in any way.

The vast majority of hospitals in the UK allow private stem cell collection

To see if your hospital allows collections click here.

Recent guidelines suggest hospitals will allow around one minute of delayed cord clamping

Anything above this may start to impact on the amount of cord blood available, but we would always encourage you to follow your birth plan. We will simply collect what cord blood is available on the day and if after processing, the stem cell count does not meet our minimum storage criteria, you will not be charged anything further.

It is also worth noting, if you opt for a physiological third stage, we are still able to collect the cord tissue.

Wherever you live in the world, you can rest assured that your stem cells will remain safely stored with us here in the UK at Future Health Biobank

If you do move, please remember to let us know your new address and contact information so we can keep our records up to date.

Vision only involves a single blood draw from the mother and is therefore a much safer screening option than amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling.

Vision offers a safer screening option to invasive methods, making it possible for mothers to gain an insight into their child’s future health without potentially endangering them. Although Vision is a highly accurate screening test (99.79%), it is still possible for false positive and false negative results to occur and therefore invasive testing is recommended to confirm the results.

The first trimester Nuchal Translucency scan only determines the risk of a child developing Down’s syndrome and therefore does not detect whether or not there is an aneuploidy present. Vision tests for this chromosomal aneuploidy.

We have genetic counsellors available to aid parents once they receive their Vision results; this can be deciding on the next steps or helping parents affected by the result itself.

The laboratory operates a 9-5, Monday to Friday service, with the exception of bank holidays and festive periods. Notifications of any closures or changes to the working day will be sent well in advance.

The laboratory has a cut off of 5 days. Anything received more than 5 days after the blood draw will not be processed and a re-draw will be required.

One of the limitations of the test is that it is not possible to show which twin the result relates to. In gender identification, a result that shows the Y chromosome has been detected means at least one of the babies is likely to be a male, however it is not possible to determine the individual gender of each baby. Clarification of these results can be obtained from routine ultrasound scans offered later in a pregnancy, as they will also attempt to identify the gender of the babies.

This should not be necessary except in extreme temperatures. Generally the sample should not be exposed to any extreme temperatures because overheating and freezing can both cause haemolysis of the blood. In warmer months or territories, it could be beneficial to use a cool pack, as long as it is not in direct contact with the sample.

No, the blood should be kept at ambient temperature, however it is still important to ensure the blood doesn’t get too hot in the summer months, so a well ventilated area is advised. The laboratory we use stores the samples at 22°C until processing, so we would recommend a similar temperature.

Our test is not constrained by ethnicity, BMI, ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) or paternal sample.

Help and Advice

Hear from our customers

"Me and my wife asked for an appointment with FHB staff and we visited your facility. We were given a short presentation and a walk throughout your lab after which all our questions were timely answered."

"As we have decided to have 3 children, we saw this as our last opportunity to keep these stem cells. We hope that we never need them, but it is better to be prepared."

"The progress of medical research generally and in particular for stem cells is simply unbelievable, and we don't know what will be possible tomorrow."

Anton Ivanov

Gonçalves Pereira

Alexandre and Raquel