[howowow]

Our baby's arriving in a couple of months and we want to store her umbilical stem cells (taken after the birth from the blood in the cut umbilical cord and stored cryogenically).

From what I've gathered, there are a couple of companies in HK that do this. The procedure is simple and takes five minutes of the midwife's time.

http://smartcells.com
http://www.cryolife.com.hk

Cryolife have been in HK longer, but the UK-based Smartcells seems cheaper at HK$19,500 for 25 yrs storage. The Red Cross also collects donations of cord blood.

NOW THE PROBLEM:
The QMH, where we're planning to give birth, has told us they will not help us collect cord blood. Anyone else out there looking into this relatively inexpensive but potentially life-saving idea? We need advice on how to go about this! I've heard that even private hospitals may not help us do this!

[Sandra & Evan]

We gave birth at the Matilda Hospital last October, and kept Evan's cord blood with Cryolife. A bit expensive, but pretty good service. Our doctor was actually the one who did all the work (with the midwives standing by, of course), and he was very familiar with the process. I'm not sure if it's the hospital that decides whether or not you can do this? Cryolife did give us a list of the hospitals that they collect from, so perhaps you should check whether QMH is accepted by either company. Also, if your doctor has delivered at QMH before, and has performed the cord blood collection procedure before, I think he would know best.

Good luck!
Sandra