Women urged to donate cord blood

The hospital hopes to bank 5,000 samples of cord blood

A London hospital is urging new mothers to come forward and donate blood from their babies' umbilical cords.

King's College Hospital, in Camberwell, south London, has launched Kingscord programme, with the Anthony Nolan Trust to create a public cord blood bank.

Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells and could be used treat leukaemia patients and some rare diseases.

Blood is collected from the placenta and the umbilical cord, which is mostly discarded after the baby's birth.

Stem cells found in the cord are "immature" and are likely to be accepted by the recipient's immune system, especially in the absence of an exact tissue match.

5,000 donations

The hospital said three women have made donations and it hopes to bank 5,000 samples of cord blood and have a further 7,500 available for research within the next five years.

If the mothers-to-be agree to participate in the programme they could register to give birth at the hospital.

The women would have to sign a consent form when they are 36 to 38 weeks into their pregnancy and undergo tests to ensure their blood is safe for use.

'Marvellous opportunity'

Six months after the birth, the mother's blood is monitored to check for genetic diseases to determine whether the stem cells can be used for transplant.

Kingscord is led by Prof Ghulam Mufti, Professor of Haematology at King's College Hospital, who said: "There are 7,000 patients in the UK waiting for a bone marrow transplant.

"The Kingscord project gives us a marvellous opportunity to treat a greater number of people with blood diseases more easily and hopefully find matches for more people who are waiting for a donor."

A special facility has been built in the grounds of Nottingham Trent University to collect and store the cord blood.