The feeling of holding your newborn for the first time is that of pure, unadulterated bliss. It almost feels surreal. You look into his or her eyes, and make a silent promise to do everything within your ability to protect and care for your precious child. You make plans, you save, you insure, but did you know that there is another important way to protect your child and that it begins from the cord?
Your only chance to store your baby’s cord blood is at birth, and it can be a precious life-saving medical resource for over 80 diseases¹. In addition, it’s important to screen your child’s vision and hearing from as young as possible. Cordlife is here to help protect your child, in every possible way at every step of the way. Celebrating its 21st anniversary this year, Cordlife is growing alongside every family. Read on to find out more.
Understanding the Umbilical Cord: Cord Blood and Cord Lining
Most of us know what the umbilical cord is – a precious cord that connects a developing baby to the placenta. It enables blood to transport oxygen and nutrition to your baby while he or she is in your womb.
After a baby is born, most people believe that the umbilical cord has done its job and they discard it, along with the placenta. But that’s where we are mistaken. Did you know that the umbilical cord is actually a treasure trove of precious stem cells?
Your baby’s umbilical cord is a rich source of lifesaving Haematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) which are primarily responsible for replenishing blood and regenerating the immune system.
Apart from HSCs, your baby’s umbilical cord lining also contains a high concentration of Mesenchymal Cells (MSCs) and Cord Lining Epithelial Stem Cells (CLEpSCs). MSCs and CLEpSCs are the “infrastructure-forming” building blocks in the human body that have shown great potential in aiding the repair of injured tissues and organs. They also have immune-modulating characteristics, therefore the matching of stem cells between the donor and the patient is not required, making them suitable for both your baby and other members of the family.
Why Should You Store Your Baby’s Cord Blood?
Now that you know how precious the umbilical cord is even after birth, it begs the question – how do you preserve it? That’s exactly what cord blood banking is! Cord blood banking is like biological insurance, where you collect these potentially lifesaving stem cells from the umbilical cord and keep them ready for use when the need arises.
These stem cells can treat a wide range of diseases such as leukaemia, lymphoma, thalassemia, immune system disorders and more². In addition to cord blood banking, the cord tissue and cord lining can also be stored. In doing so, you are storing a combination of stem cells and giving your child future access to the growing applications of stem cells and the powerful potential they have to help in treating your child when disease strikes.
This precious lifesaving resource can only be collected at birth, and are the youngest, most naïve and potent cells available. So you really have only 1 chance to save it – at birth, or never!
Cordlife – Protecting Your Child, Every Step of the Way
Your child’s health is his or her greatest wealth. Surely, you have a trusted bank account in which you accumulate your child’s wealth. Similarly, Cordlife is the bank which you can trust to accumulate your child’s future health.
About Cordlife Group Limited
Incorporated in 2001, Cordlife Group Limited is a leading company dedicated to safeguarding both mother and child. Cordlife has received two key international accreditations in cellular therapy to ensure that the processing and storage of every cord blood unit adheres to the highest quality standards. With a fully owned storage facility, Cordlife has direct control over critical services, quality licensing and accreditations, which is important when it comes to processing and storing your baby’s precious stem cells. You can be rest assured and have a peace of mind that your child’s stem cells are in the safest of hands!
Why You Can Rely on Cordlife
Cordlife also has a strong transplant track record which is testament that the cord blood units stored under their care have been processed and stored according to international standards in order for it to be used for transplants. As a homegrown SGX-listed company with over 21 years of experience, Cordlife’s financial stability will also reassure you that your child’s cord blood unit will remain safe and sound.
Furthermore, Cordlife is the only cord blood bank in Singapore that has the patented technology to process and store CLEpSCs. By storing a combination of HSCs, MSCs and CLEpSCs, your family has more medical options for possible therapeutic and regenerative applications in the future, especially for conditions that currently have no known cure.
Screening Children Young for Early Detection
On top of cord blood and cord lining banking, it is also important to have your child’s health in check from as young as possible. Early detection leads to early intervention, which provides your child a better headstart in life! Cordlife firmly believes in this and as such, offers the following screening services:
- Paediatric Vision Screening
Parents, do you know how well your child can see? It could be challenging to know until your child is able to verbalise that his vision is blurry. By that time, it may be too late as your child’s vision problems would have been left untreated and may lead to permanent visual impairment. Cordlife believes in safeguarding your child’s windows to the world by offering Eyescreen™ that enables the early detection of vision problems in your precious little one from as young as 6 months. This vision screening service is non-invasive and is able to detect over 10 common paediatric eye conditions such as myopia, amblyopia and colour deficiency.
- Paediatric Hearing Screening
Something that many parents do not know is that even if your child passes the newborn hearing test, he or she can still acquire hearing loss in early childhood. There are many reasons for this ranging from infectious diseases to damaging noise levels. Early intervention is crucial to ensure that children with hearing loss have access to sounds in order to improve speech, language, and learning outcomes. Sign up for Earscreen™ online or at Cordlife locations at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital and Thomson Paediatric Centre, and protect your child from childhood hearing loss!
- Talent Screening
Cordlife recognizes that every child is unique and that early childhood development is instrumental to raising healthy, happy and successful children. Cordlife TALENT screening is a DNA screening service that uses cutting-edge technology to learn more about your child’s character traits, talents, and learning abilities. This helps you to find the right parenting style, resources, and enrichment programmes to bring out the best in your child!
- Lenticule Banking – OptiQ™
If you are considering this laser vision correction procedure - SMILE to correct your myopia and be spectacle-free, seize the opportunity to preserve your own corneal lenticules obtained from your vision correction procedure. The corneal lenticule is a disc-shaped tissue, which is traditionally discarded as a by-product after the procedure. Today, Cordlife has a breakthrough technology to cryopreserve these precious lenticules so that they can potentially be used to treat future vision conditions such as hyperopia and presbyopia (also known as 老花).
Mums and dads, we hope that you have learnt some valuable information on how to better protect your family. Cordlife understands the importance and is here to walk the journey with you at every step of the way. Celebrating its 21st anniversary, Cordlife is committed to growing alongside your family. Visit the Cordlife website to find out more. Take the step to protect your child today for a better tomorrow!
References
- Diseases Treated with Stem Cells and their Potential Applications. Cordlife Singapore page. https://www.cordlife.com/sg/treatable-diseases. Accessed April 25 2022.
- https://www.webmd.com/baby/should-you-bank-your-babys-cord-blood#:~:text=you%20do%20it%3F-,What%20Can%20It%20Be%20Used%20For%3F,those%20collected%20from%20bone%20marrow.