FAQ

Cellaviva ensures that viable stem cells are the only ones stored from each umbilical cord. We cultivate and isolate the stem cells in the umbilical cord tissue in the same way as when we deliver stem cells for clinical studies or for treatment. That way, Cellaviva can provide you with the exact number of vital stem cells you have available in the freezer. The laboratory is AABB accredited and the staff are experts in stem cell processing.

Great steps are being taken in research every single day and we will provide our customers with the best conditions to be able to use their cells if needed in the future.

When Cellaviva freezes multiple test tubes with isolated umbilical cord tissue stem cells, cells are available for multiple outlets. This enables treatment of various diseases or multiple persons.

It is expensive to isolate and grow stem cells. Therefore, most stem cell banks choose to freeze only small pieces of umbilical cord tissue rather than freeze the isolated stem cells from the tissue. With such a process, there is a high risk that the cells will not be viable when thawed. It is also not known how many stem cells are present in the sample. In fact, knowledge of whether viable stem cells exists at all is lacking, as data show that 50-75% of stem cells die when the whole tissue is frozen. When comparing stem cell banks, one should be aware of the methods used by the respective banks.

Cellaviva performs the expensive isolation of stem cells because we are convinced that the isolated stem cells will be a milestone in future medical treatment. Cellaviva’s parent company develops new treatment methods using this kind of cells for the purpose of treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autism, brain damage, sclerosis, diabetes and many more. We want our offer of isolated stem cells to be as accessible as possible and therefore we offer to pay in instalments.

Read more here

Price in Denmark

We are parents ourselves and we know that a growing family brings many new investments in the form of stroller, car seat and other baby equipment. We want all families to have the opportunity to store their children’s stem cells. Therefore, Cellaviva offers transparent pricing on stem cell collection and storage and various payment options so that this important decision can harmonize with almost any family budget.

See our prices here: Prices and packages

A child’s umbilical cord contains viable and potent stem cells. There are two types of stem cells that have the potential to be used for different treatments: hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells. Hematopoietic stem cells are blood-forming cells with the ability to produce all kinds of blood cells, red and white blood cells as well as platelets. Mesenchymal stem cells can form bone, cartilage, and adipose cells. Cord blood primarily contains hematopoietic stem cells and cord tissue predominantly contains mesenchymal stem cells. We believe that cord tissue is just as important to save as cord blood, both types of stem cells might provide you with cell based treatment options if someone in your family get seriously ill.

Yes. All Cellaviva’s pregnant women are closely followed by Cellaviva’s midwives. Here we provide information about and discuss the possibilities of late clamping and collection of stem cells from the umbilical cord. There are several factors that play into this, but for us the most important thing is that you get the birth you want and make the choices that are important to you. We support you. The residual blood in the umbilical cord and placenta decreases over time. However, our midwives are very experienced and will be able to wait for some time depending on the length, appearance, thickness, etc. of the umbilical cord and still secure a cord blood collection with blood stem cells.

When the baby is born and the umbilical cord is cut, the Cellaviva midwife collects the cord blood using a special collection bag, a small gravity blood bag. The cord is wiped with antiseptic and a needle is inserted into one of the veins in the umbilical cord, and the blood is allowed to flow freely into the collection bag. The procedure is painless, easy and takes 3-5 minutes. The delivery continues as usual with the placenta expulsion. During stem cell collection procedure, the baby is placed with the mother, skin against skin.

Cellaviva’s midwives always act with great respect for you and your family, the atmosphere in the delivery room and the work of the hospital personnel.

The collection of umbilical cord blood is performed by Cellaviva midwife and is done immediately after clamping. All Cellavivas midwives have vast experience of midwifery, including several years of performing stem cells collections. All act with great respect for you and your family, the atmosphere in the delivery room and the work of the hospital personnel. The umbilical cord is collected before and after the placenta have been expelled. Cellaviva’s midwife takes care of everything so you can concentrate and on the amazing experience of becoming a parent. Your only assignment is to call Cellaviva’s hotline when it is time for labour and bring the Cellaviva box to the birthplace. Everything else will be managed by Cellaviva’s midwife.

Cord tissue is essentially your baby’s umbilical cord. The umbilical cord contains two arteries and one vein supported by an insulating tissue called Wharton’s jelly, which is a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), that are fundamentally different from the stem cells found in cord blood. MSCs collected from cord tissue are multi-potent, meaning they have the ability to regenerate and differentiate into many different types of cells including cartilage, bone, fat and muscle. These unique properties make them promising for cellular therapies. Mesenchymal stem cells are a big part of current in research in the stem cell field, related to degenerative disorders, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes and many more. In addition, research into the treatment of autism, cerebral palsy (brain damage) etc. uses this kind of stem cells. There is hope that these cells also can be used to treat heart failure, repair spinal cord defects and be able to restore various organs damages due to injury or disease.

Yes, the father/partner can easily cut the umbilical cord when collecting stem cells. It is only when the umbilical cord is cut that Cellaviva’s midwife begins the collection of umbilical cord blood and umbilical cord tissue.

After the umbilical cord blood is collected and the placenta is expelled, a piece of the umbilical cord (15-20 cm) is cut off, after it has been cleaned by Cellaviva’s midwife. This piece of umbilical cord is placed in a container of fluid which ensures the well-being of the cells during transport to the laboratory. Cellaviva’s midwife takes care of everything, including transporting the stem cells to the laboratory, so you don’t have to think about anything else then to enjoy your newborn baby.

One of Cellaviva’s midwives collects the umbilical cord tissue after the umbilical cord is cut, the umbilical cord blood is collected, and the placenta is expelled. Collection of stem cells from the umbilical cord itself is completely risk-free and pain-free for mother and child. All Cellaviva’s midwives have extensive experience as midwives, both from maternity and with stem cell collections. All our midwives will act with great respect for you and your birth, the atmosphere in the delivery room, the work of the birth midwife and will always stay in the background. Most often, umbilical cord blood is collected both before and after the placenta is expelled. Cellaviva’s midwife takes care of everything so you can concentrate and enjoy the amazing experience of being a parent. Your only task is to call Cellaviva’s hotline at birth and bring the Cellaviva box to the birthplace. The Cellaviva midwife will handle the rest.

There is research in a variety of treatment areas and diagnoses, such as diabetes, cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder and brain damage. Thousands of studies on stem cells from umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord tissue or similar are conducted with the aim to find novel treatments for autoimmune, regenerative and transplant related complications.

NextCell Pharma, which is Cellaviva’s parent company, researches itself in stem cell therapy for Type-1 diabetes and our responsible researchers are currently experiencing promising results.

On this independent page, you can read much more about umbilical cord stem cell research around the world.
https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en 

Cord blood is a well-established therapy for treating various blood disorders, such as leukaemia, inherited metabolic and immunodeficiency disease. Stem cells from the umbilical cord is used to treat more than 80 diseases today. The most common use of stem cells stored in private banks is sibling donation for the treatment of leukaemia.

We want to give all families the opportunity to have their children’s stem cells stored. That is why we have divided the costs into monthly instalments. You can also choose to pay the full amount at once. There will be no extra saving for upfront payment. There are no interest or fees on any of our payment methods.

Cellaviva’s products are of a very high quality and never offered in Denmark before. Our method ensures viable cells, which is key in case they are needed for treatment. This is not the case for many other stem cell banks since it is more costly and time-consuming. Cellaviva offers only the highest quality products to Danish couples and since this is a novel method for the service, we offer it at a promotional price with great savings. We do not want to offer any products of questionable quality which might create a false sense of safety. We will isolate stem cells and provide accurate cell count of your stored stem cells with all analysis and preparations of the cells conducted before payment begins. If the quality does not meet our high-quality requirements (which ensures clinically relevant stem cells for future treatment) we will inform you and explain the deviation. You then have the right to choose to continue with storage or not. You do not have to pay if you do not store the cells that does not meet the quality criteria. It is rare that our stem cell collections do not meet the quality criteria, but it is biological material, so it is not possible to predict the quality of the cells until they have gone through the analysis process in the laboratory. Under “prices” you can see more details about prices and products.

The purpose of preserving your child’s stem cells, is the possibility to use them for treatment in the future. There is no charge for the first release of the preserved cord blood and/or tissue stem cells. A handling fee will be charged for repeated release of stem cells. The stem cell sample will be available for pick up from Cellaviva’s facilities, no later than 14 days after written request. A special container is required to maintain cryogenic temperatures and you would only be responsible for the cost of transportation and to send the empty container back to Cellaviva.

The Cellaviva family is growing, and it’s all because of you – our customers! In collaboration with bObles, we would like to thank you for your confidence in us and for your help with spreading the knowledge about the potential in stem cells. On this page you can see the different products you can choose from when you recommend us to your friends and family, and they mention you name in conjunction with there order.

More than 6 million children have their stem cells preserved in a biobank. There are today more than 300 stem cell banks, 200 private and 100 public, in more than 50 countries. In many states in the United States, it is mandatory to inform expecting parents about the possibility of family-saving umbilical cord blood. Cellaviva is the first family stem cell bank in Sweden and the largest bank in Scandinavia, but the concept is well-established around the world.

There are no risks for the mother or baby to collect stem cells from the umbilical cord. The placenta and the umbilical cord do not fill any function for the baby or mother after the umbilical cord has been cut. The procedure must not under any circumstances compromise the safety of the mother, the baby or any other person at the hospital. It is always the hospital midwife who decide whether it is appropriate to collect stem cells.

The umbilical cord tissue contains blood vessels supported by tissue called Wharton’s jelly, which is a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are different from the stem cells found in cord blood. MSCs collected from cord tissue are multi-potent, meaning they have the ability to regenerate and differentiate into many different types of cells such as bone, cartilage and fat. The umbilical cord blood contains mainly hematopoietic or blood stem cells. Blood stem cells can differentiate to white and red blood cells as well as platelets. Blood stem cells are found in the bone marrow and in the umbilical cord blood.

Stem cells are found in different places in our bodies, for example, in the bone marrow, brain and teeth. We have stem cells throughout the body, but there are few tissues that have as high density of stem cells as the umbilical cord and placenta.

The Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO) is the licensor and regularly inspects Cellaviva. We comply with high quality requirements to ensure that the handling of stem cells is performed satisfactorily and of high quality. The quality and routines are according to the tissue laws.

You can order your Cellaviva box here or you can contact Cellaviva’s customer service at: 89 88 02 88 for ordering the Cellaviva box, which contains all the necessary equipment for the collection. The Cellaviva box also contains information for the midwife, which you can provide to the consultation midwife or the midwife when you arrive at the hospital. You, as a future mother, will then receive an email with documentation describing the agreement regarding. collection of stem cells as well as a statement of health. Both must be completed and signed using NemID before the birth.

Yes, all the reasons for why you saved the stem cells of your first child are still valid for additional children. Saving stem cells for each child gives your family more options because:

– Each child has access to his or her own genetically unique cells. Your baby may use the stem cells for a number of diseases, however, not generally for inherited genetic conditions. In those cases, a matched sibling’s stem cells would be the first choice. For experimental regenerative medicine therapies that use cord blood, the child’s own stem cells are currently required.

– There is increased likelihood that a family member in need will have access to a related source of cord stem cells for treatment.

– Expecting identical twins? It is still important to save cord stem cells for each child as it is extremely difficult to determine if twins are indeed identical and furthermore, stem cells can only be owned by a single individual. Each child’s cord stem cells are preserved separately at Cellaviva.

In order for your baby’s stem cells to be analysed and grown in the laboratory, the mother’s blood must first be tested for infectious diseases. Screening for infectious diseases of the mother’s blood is a legal requirement. Cellaviva’s midwife will take a blood test on the mother in conjunction with childbirth. The result of this is required both as a safety for laboratory personnel and for a future potential recipient of the stem cells.

Cellaviva’s midwives can collect stem cells from the umbilical cord at birth in all hospitals, maternity clinics and at home births throughout Denmark.

No, the collection of stem cells will not be a disruptive element in your birth experience. Cellaviva’s midwife arrives at the hospital and she will appear discreetly and with respect for the birth and the work of the hospital midwifes. Cellaviva’s midwives are trained to handle the collection of stem cells. Cellaviva’s midwives always act with great respect for you and your family, the atmosphere in the delivery room and the work of the hospital personnel.