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
Percutaneous umbilical cord blood sampling issues, and infections. In 1958, James L.S. recognised that umbilical cord blood gas analysis can give an indication of preceding fetal hypoxic stress. It has since become widely accepted that umbilical cord blood gas analysis can provide important information about the past, present and possibly the future condition of the infant. PUBS dates back to 1964 when Freda and Adamsons reported the removal of a uterus containing a fetus who had a buildup of fluid and ended up dying; however, this was one of the first procedures that showed promise for current day PUBS. Valenti hypothesized in 1972 that the