Congratulations to our December promotion winners – Claire Boocock and Dougall Cameron – who are expecting their first baby next month. They entered the ‘register by 31 December’ draw and won a CordBank collection kit worth $750.

“We decided to register with CordBank due to Dougall’s history of Leukaemia. We wanted the security of knowing that should our baby experience any health issue in the future then we have provided the best option for cure with cord blood banking.

We have both known about banking cord blood for a few years now and after speaking with family and friends we know we’ve made the right decision for us and our baby.

The cost involved was no question when it comes to our baby’s health, but winning our $750 Collection Kit was a wonderful bonus. Now we’re just so excited to welcome our baby into our family!” commented Claire.

At Children’s Memorial Hermann, pediatric trauma expert Dr. Charles Cox is studying cord blood to see if it can regenerate damaged brain tissues.

“Cord blood is one piece of that puzzle,” Cox said. “There aren’t any good restorative therapies for brain injury, which is why we got into this years and years ago.”

So far, cord blood can treat 80 different diseases – a convincing statistic to the neo-natal staff.

Dr Cox directs the Pediatric Surgical Translational Laboratories and Pediatric Program in Regenerative Medicine at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, which address problems that originate with traumatic injury and the consequences of resuscitation and critical care. The Program focuses on progenitor cell based therapy (stem cells) for traumatic brain injury, and related neurological injuries (hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, stroke, spinal cord injury), recently completing the first acute, autologous cell therapy treatment Phase I study for traumatic brain injury in children.

When Nikki Dines was expecting her first baby, her mum Linda offered to meet the costs of cord blood banking for her newest grandchild. It was an offer Nikki was delighted to accept.

A good friend of Linda’s had recently done the same for her first grandchild and the idea made sense to her.

“So often grandparents buy the cot, or car seat and pram for a new baby – but we wanted to give something that would last a lot longer than that. We felt that paying for cord blood banking was a really meaningful gift – something that would last a lifetime” said Linda.

“We know that the chances of needing your own stem cells in the future are increasing every day so it’s reassuring to us that we’ve been able to help protect our grandchildrens’ health now and in the future.

Cord blood is the blood that remains in a baby’s umbilical cord following birth and after the cord is cut. It’s a valuable source of stem cells, which are a perfect DNA match for that baby. Cord blood stem cells can only be collected right after a baby is born, via a simple and painless procedure.

Three years after that first conversation, Linda and her husband now have 5 grandchildren – and have paid for cord blood banking with CordBank NZ for them all.

“We are so grateful for their generosity” said Nikki and her husband Elliot, now the proud parents of three gorgeous children.

“It’s really comforting to know that our children have their cord blood stored should they need it in the future. And as we have the cord blood stored for all three of our children, they each have access to their own perfectly matched stem cells when they need them.”

Two New Zealand children have already been successfully treated with their own cord blood, and current research shows there’s a 1 in 200 chance that children born today will need a stem cell transplant in their lifetime. Parents banking their baby’s cord blood now can rest easy in the knowledge that they have these cells safely stored.