By Teh Jen Lee

AS a nurse, she watched two leukaemia patients die while waiting for a transplant.

This left such an impression on Ms Tay Ai Lian, 33, that she made it a point to donate her baby's umbilical cord blood to the Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB).

She said of the patients: 'I was taking care of them for a month, I bonded with them and their family. Day by day, while waiting for transplant, I watched their condition deteriorate.'

Ms Tay is now such a strong advocate of cord blood donation that her sister-in-law has also followed in her footsteps.

Cord blood donation is painless and risk-free.

Blood is drawn from the umbilical cord after the baby has been delivered and the umbilical cord has been clamped and cut.

The procedure takes just a few minutes in the delivery room and there is no risk or pain to the mother or child during the collection process.

Ms Tay learnt about cord blood donation from a brochure that her gynaecologist passed to her.

'I discussed it with my husband and we felt it would be a waste to discard the cord blood. I've donated it twice,' she said.

With every additional banked cord blood unit, a life can be saved.

Cord blood used to be routinely discarded after the birth of a baby.

Today, medical science recognises that cord blood is a rich source of stem cells, which can be collected, processed and preserved in low temperatures for future potential life-saving cord blood transplants.

This month, SCBB facilitated its 21st cord blood transplant using its banked inventory of over 4,500 cord blood units.

In addition, another five transplants are planned to take place before the end of next month.

Dr William Hwang, medical director of SCBB and senior consultant in the department of haematology of Singapore General Hospital, said: 'At least six people are diagnosed daily in Singapore with different types of blood related diseases.

'Many of these patients will require a blood step cell transplant in order to survive.

'As most of the major cord blood banks are established in Europe and the United States, this means that patients with Asian ancestry have difficulty finding a match.'

He said the SCBB was established to meet that need for the Asian community.

Since it was launched in September 2005 by Minister of Health Khaw Boon Wan, SCBB has been working towards its goal of building South-east Asia's biggest public cord blood bank of 10,000 units.

Dr Hwang said cord blood is better than bone marrow transplants because there is no need for a perfect match between the donor and the recipient.

This allows for an easier match and there is a significantly lower risk of complications arising from the donor's body rejecting the blood transplant.

Mr Steven Sobak, chief executive officer of SCBB, said: 'We are thankful for the steady influx of cord blood units donated by expectant mothers.

'In just four years of operation, SCBB has provided cord blood units to facilitate 21 stem cell transplants in this global mission to save lives. We encourage expectant mothers to join us and be a part of this life-saving cause.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.