Explainer | Storing cord blood is becoming popular in Hong Kong but what are the benefits?
- Doctors at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital are treating a five-year-old girl using cord blood transferred from Guangdong province
The donated cord blood could provide a source of stem cells for transplant to the girl and potentially cure her, according to doctors from Hong Kong Children’s Hospital.
The Post takes a look at why storing cord blood has become popular in recent years among new parents and whether it is necessary.
1. What is umbilical cord blood?
After a baby is born, the blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord is known as cord blood.
2. Why store cord blood?
Cord blood is rich in stem cells and can be used like bone marrow to be transplanted to patients for treatment of various blood diseases, such as thalassaemia and leukaemia.
It has the blood-producing stem cells that could develop into the blood cell types that a patient needs, such as red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets.
Private cord blood banks in Hong Kong frequently promote their services to new parents at baby product exhibitions.
3. Is storing cord blood necessary?
Professor Raymond Liang Hin-suen, a specialist in haematology and haematological oncology, said the likelihood of using one’s own cord blood was slim.
