 |
 |
 |
|
"Together with breastfeeding, it is one of the biggest gifts I could give to my children."
Sylvana Brannon, mother and
representative for Smart Cells (Malta)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I learnt about the importance of storing your baby's cord blood from an Italian TV programme when I was pregnant with my first child. This programme featured a toddler who survived Leukemia thanks to a successful cord blood transplant in Sicily. Touched by such wonderful news, during my next visit to the gynae I made it a point to ask him how I could store my baby's cord blood. Unfortunately he answered that this service was not available in Malta.
Almost a year later I read on The Times of Malta that Smart Cells (Malta) was now offering this service to Maltese parents. Besides being sorry for having missed the boat by not even a year, I was determined to have the cord blood stored if a second child would arrive. In fact when I discovered that I had received a second blessing from God, I made storing my baby's cord blood a top priority and had the kit ready in my hospital bag months before my due date. My husband and I strongly believe that storing cord blood is very important. Every day scientists discover new uses and treatments. It is a very delicate decision because if you go for a no, there is no turning back. If you decide to store the cord blood, it has to be collected in the first few minutes of your child's life, if not this store of valuable stem cells is simply discarded and the opportunity has been missed.
Although Smart Cells (Malta) was the only company providing this service at the time we did some research on the company and were satisfied to read that Smart Cells is the longest established storage company in the UK. Despite wanting to store our baby's cord blood we still had a number of queries, and Smart Cells (Malta) answered them all promptly. It was reassuring to be able to reach them at any time though their 24 hour care line particularly at the time of birth. Smart Cells (Malta) followed up on us even after the birth keeping regular contact and informing us of courses and events. I have attended some of the recommended courses including the breastfeeding course, the baby massage course and I hope to catch up with some more.
Every expectant parent should try and learn as much as possible about the opportunity of storing their baby's cord blood so as to be able to make an informed decision. We believe it is a life saving opportunity for our child, his or her siblings and selfishly for us (the parents) too. I am confident that storing our child's cord blood with the current uses in mind was a very good decision and it is exciting to hear of new uses and advances being made in this field. We buy many useful and useless things for our children, but no investment can be as important as trying to ensure a possibility of healing from grave illnesses in the future. |
|
[back to list of testimonials]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Times (Newsletters)
Testimonials
SmartBabies
Links of interest
Stem cells video links
Physicians contact list
Our Partners
DHL Tracking
