I had seen this article previously in the ST Forum, expounding on how great cord blood is, whether to donate for research purposes or 'banked' as a security hedge against diseases.

Today, i saw another article in the ST Forum in response to that... Do read it... I feel it is important for us to always find out more about a new technology. Don't believe everything we hear wholesale...

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ST Forum

Oct 19, 2006

The flip side of harvesting cord blood

I REFER to the article, 'Parents pin hopes on cord blood banks' (ST, Oct 12), on the rising number of parents who harvest their babies' cord blood.

As a mother and a childbirth educator, I feel that it is important that parents weigh carefully the risks and benefits of harvesting their baby's cord blood.

Cord blood should not be considered as 'waste', something to be thrown away if not harvested for storage in a cord-blood bank.

While it may be standard practice today for the umbilical cord to be clamped and cut immediately after birth, not many parents know that there are valid physiological reasons for leaving the cord alone until it has stopped pulsating and the baby's pulmonary and respiratory systems are working well.

However, clamping and cutting the cord immediately after birth is necessary for cord-blood harvesting. This action takes away 60-150ml of blood, about one third to half the total blood volume in a normal baby.

There are studies that show that babies whose cords were not cut immediately at birth show higher blood pressure, better oxygen levels and higher haemoglobin levels than their counterparts whose cords were clamped and cut immediately.

Delayed clamping, even for only two minutes, has been shown to boost iron stores in babies as late as six months after birth.

This is information that parents should be told if they are considering cord-blood banking. In the interest of allowing parents to make an informed choice, doctors should give them a complete picture of what it means to harvest cord blood.

Parents should consider not only the merits of each facility for cord-blood banking but also if it is even necessary or in their baby's best interests to clamp and cut the cord early just to harvest cord blood.

Patricia Chong-Koh Hee Ching (Mrs)

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