When Nikki Dines was expecting her first baby, her mum Linda offered to meet the costs of cord blood banking for her newest grandchild. It was an offer Nikki was delighted to accept.

A good friend of Linda’s had recently done the same for her first grandchild and the idea made sense to her.

“So often grandparents buy the cot, or car seat and pram for a new baby – but we wanted to give something that would last a lot longer than that. We felt that paying for cord blood banking was a really meaningful gift – something that would last a lifetime” said Linda.

“We know that the chances of needing your own stem cells in the future are increasing every day so it’s reassuring to us that we’ve been able to help protect our grandchildrens’ health now and in the future.

Cord blood is the blood that remains in a baby’s umbilical cord following birth and after the cord is cut. It’s a valuable source of stem cells, which are a perfect DNA match for that baby. Cord blood stem cells can only be collected right after a baby is born, via a simple and painless procedure.

Three years after that first conversation, Linda and her husband now have 5 grandchildren – and have paid for cord blood banking with CordBank NZ for them all.

“We are so grateful for their generosity” said Nikki and her husband Elliot, now the proud parents of three gorgeous children.

“It’s really comforting to know that our children have their cord blood stored should they need it in the future. And as we have the cord blood stored for all three of our children, they each have access to their own perfectly matched stem cells when they need them.”

Two New Zealand children have already been successfully treated with their own cord blood, and current research shows there’s a 1 in 200 chance that children born today will need a stem cell transplant in their lifetime. Parents banking their baby’s cord blood now can rest easy in the knowledge that they have these cells safely stored.

Chloe Levine was born seemingly perfect — she was the happy and healthy baby her parents had dreamed of.

But by the time she was 9 months old, Chloe was not reaching the milestones her older sister Shayla had met at that age.

Chloe’s right hand was constantly clenched in a tight fist – she couldn’t even hold her bottle. And she wasn’t able to crawl; she would “shuffle” her body across the floor in a seated position, her mother, Jenny, recalls.

Soon after Chloe’s first birthday, the Levines, who live in Denver, learned their daughter had suffered a stroke in utero and had become afflicted with cerebral palsy.

The Levines remembered they had banked stem cells from Chloe’s umbilical cord at her birth, and wondered if they could be used to help treat her.

On May 28, 2008, at the age of 2, Chloe received a 15-minute re-infusion of her stem cells.

Within four days, her parents saw a noticeable difference, although Kurtzberg said most kids show benefits three to nine months later.

The rigidity on Chloe’s right side loosened up and her speech started to improve. She was able to ride her toy tractor, which in the past had been too difficult for her to pedal.

“Her life is completely normal, she doesn’t drag her right foot, she can use her right hand,” Jenny Levine said. “She rides a bike, a scooter…we’re taking her skiing this year. She’s fabulous.”

Dr. Charles Cox, from the University of Texas-Houston Medical School, has been studying cord blood cells for the past 2 1/2 years.

“Umbilical cord blood cell therapy for traumatic brain injury has a lot of pre-clinical work that has been done, suggesting that it’s beneficial,” Cox said. “I believe that cord blood is equivalent or better than bone marrow-derived cells.”

Cox said if the parents do not choose to save the cord blood, it is considered medical waste and thrown away.

“Really, the issue of cord blood banking today comes down to trying to understand what the future holds in terms of regenerative medicine as a field,” Cox said. “So, the long-term look is, and even the intermediate-term look is that it’s not science-fiction. I see it expanding and accelerating over the next two to five years.” http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573265,00.html

We’re delighted to be partnering with EGG - the stylish maternity clothing brand - to give CordBank customers-to-be an exclusive offer. From 10th December 2009 until 31 March 2010, enter EGG as your code when you register online with CordBank and you’ll receive a $100.00 EGG gift voucher to use at any one of their three Auckland stores (Albany, Newmarket & Botany).

Terms & Conditions:

• To be eligible to receive a $100 EGG voucher, the customer must firstly register with CordBank and enter the word ‘egg’ in the ‘promotional code’ field.
• Only one $100 EGG voucher will be issued per child registered.
• The voucher can only be redeemed at the three Auckland EGG stores (Albany, Newmarket & Botany) and cannot be used towards online purchases.
• The voucher cannot be exchanged for cash and EGG will not be liable for any vouchers lost or stolen.
• The voucher cannot be used in conjunction with any other EGG gift voucher, offer or discount.
• The voucher is valid for 6 months from date of issue.
• The promotion runs from 10 December 2009 until midnight on 31 March 2010.

Oxygen deprived newborns are the focus of a new study underway at Duke University in North Carolina. The pilot programme is being led by Dr Joanne Kurtzberg, who succesfully reinfused New Zealander Maia Friedlander with her own cord blood last year. The purpose of the pilot study is to evaluate the safety and feasibility of infusions of autologous (the patient’s own) umbilical cord blood stem cells in term gestation newborn infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. For full details of the study – http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00593242?term=cord+blood&rank=11

L-R Adine, Harper and Jeff Wilson

Proud parents of one year old Harper, Adine and Jeff Wilson, will become a family of four this January when their new baby arrives. Just as they did for Harper, the family has enrolled with CordBank to have their newborn’s cord blood collected and stored for future use.

Cord blood is the blood that remains in your baby’s umbilical cord following birth and after the cord is cut. It’s a valuable source of stem cells, which are a perfect DNA match for your baby.

“By saving your baby’s cord blood you give them the chance to survive some of the most deadly diseases and illnesses – now and into adulthood.“

“I first found out about it through a lady at work, but I know friends who have missed out because they just didn’t know that the service was available. So I tell everyone I can about it. We see cord blood banking as an insurance that you hope you never need to use,” says Adine.

Cord blood stem cells can only be collected right after your baby is born, via a simple and painless procedure.

They are the building blocks of organs, tissues, blood and the immune system. They can also turn into other types of cells including heart, muscle and nerve cells.

We want our children to be able to benefit from the progress being made in the world of medicine – which is increasingly using cord blood stem cells to treat degenerative illnesses and conditions,” Adine adds.

To date, two New Zealand children have been successfully treated with their own cord blood, and current research shows there’s a 1 in 200 chance that children born today will need a stem cell transplant in their lifetime. Parents banking their baby’s cord blood now can rest easy in the knowledge that they have these cells safely stored.

“By having the stem cells stored for both of our children they will each have access to what is effectively a perfect match for each of them, rather than waiting in hope for a suitable donor if they need a transplant.”

“As a parent you want to cover all the bases so banking the cord blood for both of our children will give us the peace of mind that we have given them the best start in life.”

The scientific journal Cell Transplantation has 2 studies that have explored umbilical cord blood stem cells for lung and heart disorders.  Both studies were conducted using animals so they are very preliminary, but they offer great potential for future treatments.

In one study, researchers investigated the therapeutic benefits of transplanting human umbilical cord blood (UCB) mensenchymal stem cells (MSC) into newborn laboratory rats with oxygen-deprived lung injury.  They found that the cells have a protective effect against hyperoxia-induced lung injury, likely due to anti-inflammatory effects.  These results might eventually lead to the discovery of treatments for hypertoxic neonatal lung disease, or bronchopulmonary dysplasia in premature human infants.

Another research team examined the potential therapeutic role of umbilical cord mononuclear cells (UCMNC) for the treatment of congenital heart defects. They found that the transplants enhanced diastolic properties, most likely through blood vessel growth.  The study found that UCMNC transplants are “feasible and safe” and seem to “positively influence the diastolic properties of the RV under chronic volume overload.” http://www.physorg.com/wire-news/20441350/umbilical-cord-blood-stem-cell-transplant-may-help-lung-heart-di.html

As a pre-Xmas special we’re giving everyone who registers in December the chance to win a free cord blood collection kit. To be in to win make sure you’re enrolled by 31 December 2009 via http://www.cordbank.co.nz/register/

Terms and Conditions of Entry

1. To qualify for entry, you must complete registration, including payment of applicable registration fees, by 5.00pm on 31 December 2009.
2. CordBank will not be responsible for failure of your registration to qualify for entry, whether or not as a consequence of incomplete or misdirected registration, including as a consequence of internet or other technical difficulties.
3. The winner will be determined by random draw and notified by telephone. If the winner cannot be contacted within a month for any reason whatsoever, a redraw will take place.
4. The winner consents to the use of his or her name by CordBank for publicity purposes.
5. The prize is not transferable or redeemable for cash.
6. CordBank shall not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any person (whether direct or consequential) as a consequence of participating in the competition or redeeming the prize.
7. All personal information that you provide will be held by CordBank and will be used for the purposes of conducting the promotion and to notify you of information related to CordBank and the services that it provides that it considers may be of interest to you.You may access any personal information that CordBank holds about you by contacting CordBank at any time.

October 19, 2009 – Researchers say a new development in cord blood transplants for inherited metabolic disorders may be curative for some babies who are treated while still in the womb.

Joanne Kurtzberg, M.D., professor of pediatrics and pathology and director of the pediatric blood and marrow transplant program at Duke University Medical Center, says the new approach uses a small, select number of therapeutic stem cells that have been treated to hasten and improve the process of engraftment.

Kurtzberg is formally studying the procedure in a pilot trial open to newly pregnant mothers known to be at risk for having children with lethal metabolic disorders. The clinical trial has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Metabolic disorders — also known as lysosomal storage disorders — include several dozen rare, inherited genetic diseases marked by the absence of specific enzymes the body needs to break down and get rid of metabolic byproducts of energy production. Left untreated, metabolic disorders can lead to bone, brain, and central nervous system problems and early death.

For the past decade or so, physicians have experimented with cord blood transplants after birth as a way of treating these diseases, and in many cases, treatments have been successful. Kurtzberg says the timing of the transplant is critical.

“The idea is to give the baby cord blood stem cells from a healthy donor that have the potential to provide healthy genes that can replace the ones that aren’t working properly in the baby’s own cells,” says Kurtzberg. Generally, she says that the earlier the treatment, the greater the chance the donor cells will work, so transplants before the baby is born are ideal.

The fetal transplant itself is fairly simple. After a physician diagnoses the presence of one of the genetic diseases and the parents consent to treatment, donor cells are injected directly into the baby’s abdomen at 12 to 14 weeks into the pregnancy. After that, there is an extended period where the transplant needs to “take,” or engraft. At birth, the baby will be tested to see if donor cells are present and if they’re already working to fix the malfunctioning genes. If not, the baby would be eligible for a conventional transplant with chemotherapy within the first few weeks of life.

Kurtzberg says the trial is open to pregnant women who are at risk of having a baby with Krabbe Disease, metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), Pelizaeus-Maerzbacher Disease (PMD), Tay-Sachs disease or Sandoff Disease.

From choosing re-usable nappies to wooden toys, today’s expectant parents are conscious of the need to protect their baby’s health while they also look after the environment.

“Environmentally-aware parents are telling us they want to provide their newborns with the natural protection provided by banking cord blood at birth”.

“It’s a simple and sustainable way to save these precious cord blood stem cells that would otherwise be discarded as medical waste,” says Kate Carter, Director of Customer Services at CordBank NZ.

“The millions of stem cells present in cord blood provide a chemical free, totally naturally medicine that’s also an exact DNA match for your child.”

Cord blood stem cells have been used to successfully rebuild childrens’ immune systems destroyed after cancer treatment for the past 34 years. Many doctors now regard cord blood stems cells as a better transplant source than bone marrow.

“The effectiveness of cord blood stem cells in thousands of medical treatments demonstrates the power our bodies have to heal and maintain themselves,” said Carter.

Unlike embryonic stem cells, cord blood stem cells are non-controversial and can only be collected at birth. CordBank NZ provides its service to parents around New Zealand and internationally.

With a 2008 study confirming that the chances of needing a stem cell transplant are 1 in 200 over a child’s lifetime , eco-conscious parents who bank their childrens’ cord blood are providing a non-invasive, totally natural future health option for their children.

New studies show that a child’s own cord blood stem cells can also play a vital role in treating childhood diabetes and regenerating damaged brain tissue. Two New Zealand children recently used their own stored cord blood successfully after cancer treatment and for a brain injury.

To enroll with CordBank NZ go to www.cordbank.co.nz or call us on 0800 267322.

Since New Zealand was named the safest country in the world by the international Global Peace Index (GPI) in June, calls from expectant parents in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US have risen dramatically.

“We’ve had emails and calls from families in Denmark, Qatar, Singapore and Malaysia who have decided that whilst they will give birth locally, they want to have their baby’s cord blood stored in New Zealand,” says Kate Carter, CordBank NZ’s Director of Customer Services.

“These parents recognise that New Zealand is free from political unrest and is renowned for its peaceful way of life making it an attractive place to store their child’s cord blood now – knowing it will be safe into the future. They want peace of mind and to be confident that their child’s cord blood won’t be compromised by national, economic or social conflict.”

Carter said that as there is a 32 hour ”window” between the collection of cord blood at birth and its processing at CordBank in Auckland, “we can pick it up from almost anywhere within that time frame.”

To arrange to have your newborn’s cord blood stored in the safest country in the world email CordBank New Zealand at info@cordbank.co.nz or phone CordBank on +64 9 302 9511.