Singapore Cord Blood Bank services, but retain ownership over the use of their cord blood. Cord blood is the blood that circulates through the umbilical cord from the foetus to the placenta. After delivery, the placenta is almost always thrown away. Yet this humble umbilical cord has become a life saving and precious commodity, because cord blood is rich in blood stem cells. Blood stem cells are young or immature cells that can transform into other forms of essential blood cell types (pluripotent), such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The use of blood stem cells has emerged as a potentially
Medial umbilical ligament Medial umbilical ligament The medial umbilical ligament (or cord of umbilical artery) is a paired structure found in human anatomy. It is on the deep surface of the anterior abdominal wall, and is covered by the medial umbilical folds ("plicae umbilicales mediales"). It should not be confused with the median umbilical ligament, a different structure that represents the remnant of the embryonic urachus. It represents the remnant of the fetal umbilical arteries, which serves no purpose in humans after birth, except for the initial part that becomes the adult superior vesical artery. It may be used as a landmark for