After a baby is born, cord blood is left in the umbilical cord and placenta. It is relatively easy to collect, with no risk to the mother or baby.  The cord blood contains haematopoietic (blood) stem cells.  Larger reserves of these stem cells are found in our bone marrow.

Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) can make every type of cell in the blood – red cells, white cells and platelets. These stem cells are responsible for maintaining blood production throughout our lives and provide many repair and renewal capabilities. They have been used for many years in bone marrow transplants to treat blood diseases.

In this video, Mom, Shelly Connelly talks about Peyton’s recovery using stem cells collected from cord blood.