The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the maternal age at delivery and selected properties of the cord blood stem cells. The study included 50 pregnant women aged between 18 and 38 years in which spontaneous labors or elective cesarean sections were performed. Umbilical cord blood was collected immediately after the women were delivered of newborns. The samples were analyzed in the Polish Stem Cells Bank in Warsaw. The highest mean WBC level (p < 0.05) was observed in the umbilical blood collected from patients aged 35 years and more. Similarly, the highest mean cell viability was observed in the umbilical cord blood collected from patients aged 35 and more. There were no statistically significant correlations between the CD34+ cells count and mean cell viability in the umbilical cord blood and the maternal age. With the significance level at p < 0.001, the females after spontaneous labor revealed a visibly higher WBC level than patients after a cesarean section. The higher mean WBC concentration (24.95 thousand/μl) was observed in the umbilical cord blood of patients aged 35 and more after spontaneous labors. In the same group, the umbilical cord blood was also characterized by the highest mean cell viability (98.72%). The number of nucleated cells in the umbilical cord blood collected in the perinatal period increases together with the maternal age. In the course of physiological spontaneous labors, the collected umbilical cord blood has more nucleated cells as compared with elective caesarian sections.
Keywords: Caesarean section; Cord blood banking; Maternal age; Steam cell; Umbilical cord blood; Vaginal birth.