MUM Rebecca Ridgeway was determined to provide the best insurance policy for her child. So the 24-year-old from Shrivenham paid out £600 to a private company to take blood from her newborn baby's umbilical cord and placenta.
Then, if it was ever needed, it could be used to treat a variety of blood conditions, such as leukaemia and anaemia.
The former account manager said: "I first learned about stem cell collection when it was featured on a programme on the Discovery Channel.
"I was pregnant at the time with my son Eli and I was determined to find out more."
After researching on the internet, Rebecca found out about a London-based company which carries out stem cell collection.
The firm, Cryo-care, provided her with a collection kit and when her son was born at Princess Margaret Hospital on July 5 last year, the cord blood was collected and transferred by courier to a storage facility in Brussels where it is cryogenically frozen.
The company agree to keep the samples, which will provide a perfect tissue match, for 20 years.
Rebecca, whose 24-year-old husband David is the managing director of a double-glazing company, said: "I know it sounds like a lot of money to pay out, but it is the best insurance policy. You are investing in your child's future."
Rebecca was so impressed with the service that she now acts a paid agent of the company and is keen to spread the word.
"The problem is that not many people are aware of the service that this company offers. I don't know why more people don't do this."
However, the same treatment is also available free of charge on the National Health Service, which in 1996 set up the London Cord Bank as part of the National Blood Service.
The NHS bank differs from private companies in that it relies on voluntary donations which are then available for all to use based on clinical need rather than the ability to pay.
Head of the London Blood Cord Bank, Susan Armitage, explained: "We are only collecting in a handful of hospitals around the country at the moment but we ensure that we take samples from volunteers from a wide ethnic mix.
"This means that we have stem cell matches for the vast majority of people.
"The motivation of those that volunteer is purely altruistic.
"The service may expand in the future, but that depends on what funds become available."
Blood banks where samples are available to all are more expensive to run than commercial operations because donated cord blood must be tissue typed, a relatively expensive procedure, so it can be matched to potential recipients.
Where cord blood is banked with commercial organisations for private use, tissue typing is unnecessary donor and recipient are the same person.
NHS cord banks rely on voluntary donations, something which is not yet routine in maternity units.
Relatively few donors are needed for a cord bank to work.
In the US, where cord blood has been taken for about 20 years, the National Institutes of Health have calculated that 20,000 samples of cord blood would ensure that almost everybody who needed a transplant in the US would find a match.
The option of altruistic cord blood banking for the National Blood Service banks is currently under-taken only at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, Barnet General Hospital, Newcastle Royal Infirmary and the Mater Infirmorum Hospital in Belfast.
The London Cord Bank aims to collect and store 10,000 samples.
And it is making special efforts to target ethnic groups as they are less likely to be donors and statistically more likely to be recipients.
The National Blood Service website is available on www.blood.co.uk
Private companies offering stem cell recovery can be found on:
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