Mum hails cord blood donation after life-saving transplant

A mother who donated umbilical cord blood after giving birth has described how her own daughter's life was saved by a similar donation just a few years later.

Natasha Kirkpatrick donated her daughter Ellaria's cord blood when she was born in 2017 at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital.

In 2022, Ellaria herself needed a cord blood donation to treat blood cancer. Her mum said without the donation her daughter "would not be here".

Cord blood is rich in stem cells and is found in the placenta and umbilical cord after the birth of a baby. It can be used to treat a number of cancers, immune conditions and genetic disorders.

Ellaria, now eight, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2019, aged two. She relapsed after chemotherapy.

She was due to have a stem cell transplant in 2022 but it was cancelled when the donor caught Covid-19.

Instead, she received an emergency cord blood transplant at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

Mrs Kirkpatrick, 37, a teacher from Marston Moretaine near Bedford, said: "I knew about cord blood because I'd donated Ellaria's own cord blood when she was born."

She said her daughter was "still being monitored and she has some after-effects that affected her heart and brain a little".

"You would not know what she has been through from looking at her, but what she has been through is just incredible.

"She's now in Year 4 at primary school. She is a typical girl; loves her music like Elvis, K-Pop and the Spice Girls, her dancing. She is funny."

The mum-of-three, who is pregnant with her fourth baby, added: "I cannot thank the mum who donated the cord blood Ellaria received enough.

"Without the doctors and without that transplant, she would not be here.

"I just think it's great that people do it - and I was proud to do it myself."

It comes as NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) announced that it had issued its 1,000th unit of baby umbilical cord blood for stem cell transplants.

The NHS Blood and Transplant cord blood bank in Filton, Bristol, which opened in 1996, is the fourth largest cord blood bank in the world and holds nearly 20,000 donations available for clinical use.

Alex Ross, head of NHS Blood and Transplant's Cord Blood Bank, said: "Stem cells from cord blood can be safely stored for years.

"Your baby may be grown up by the time they save a life, perhaps even older than the recipient - it's a very special way to donate."

Women giving birth at certain hospitals - University College Hospital, Luton and Dunstable Hospital and St George's Hospital - can opt to donate once the placenta has been delivered.

The cord blood is then frozen and stored at -196C, until a match is found.

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