A MUM to be is urging local NHS services to adopt a life-saving scheme which uses the umbilical cords of newborns.
Tanya Stagg, who is five-months pregnant, wants the stem cells collected from the cord blood of her baby to be used to give a lifeline to someone suffering from a severe illness.
However Tanya, from Golcar, cannot take part in the scheme because there are no NHS services in the north which have the facilities to collect cord blood– the blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after the baby is born.
Tanya feels that it is a service that is desperately lacking, particularly as it has the potential to save thousands of lives.
According to medical practitioners, cord blood offers a powerful medical source in fighting devastating chronic and acute diseases, including cancers, blood disorders and genetic diseases.
The stem cells found in the cord blood restore the function of the body’s immune and blood producing systems and is also an alternative to using bone marrow.
During the simple procedure, which takes place immediately after birth, blood is drawn from the placenta and umbilical cord. The stem cells collected are then frozen and stored until a patient requires it.
Tanya, who is expecting her first child with husband Nigel, said the procedure – not available on the NHS outside the London area– needs to be offered to people living in Yorkshire.
She said: “You can pay to have your cord blood stored privately, but that costs around £1,500 and would be used if you want to do it for you own private use, like if a family member needed it in the future.
“To donate it for use by the NHS to help other people is impossible, I have been looking into it and there doesn’t seem to be anywhere outside London offering it.
“It is an untapped source but it’s really important because it can potentially be used to help cure a lot of diseases and save lives. The procedure is still fairly new and in its early stages, but if it can be used to fight diseases like cancer then it has got to be worthwhile.”
Tanya, 31, is delighted to be expecting her baby, something she feared would not be possible in 1997 when she was diagnosed with renal failure after collapsing at work.
She was put on dialysis three times a week and waited three years to get her life-saving kidney transplant.
Although the stem cells cannot be used to cure people suffering from the same illness she had, they can be used to help improve the lives of people suffering from other crippling diseases.
Tanya said: “It’s awful to live with an illness, it’s so draining and it’s impossible to led a normal life.
“Because I’ve had a transplant I feel it is important to give something back, if I can help ease someone else’s suffering then that’s what it’s all about. But I can’t help because the service isn’t offered around here.
“It could help a lot of people and it needs to be something that we have here and not just in London.”
