At Leukaemia and Myeloma Research UK, we’re backing World Cord Blood Day (November 17 2025) by encouraging more mothers who are eligible to consider banking the blood of their baby’s umbilical cord when they give birth.
We offer a part or fully-funded cord blood banking service, the Model Cell Biobank, to mothers who qualify – helping to reduce the number of people suffering from blood cancer each year by providing options for treatment.
Cord blood stem cells are currently used to treat over 80 different life-threatening diseases such as Leukaemia, Lymphoma, Krabbe Disease and Sickle Cell Anaemia. Cord blood stem cells could also prove to be important in new areas of regenerative medicine to treat spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, autism, type 1 diabetes and other serious illnesses.
Safely collecting and storing stem cells from umbilical cord blood makes them available for potential use in the future, either by the child or another family member. These stem cells can be used to treat blood cancers, genetic disorders, and more, serving as an alternative to bone marrow stem cells.
Among those who have benefited from the procedure are Natalie Harrop and partner Gary Hardwick-Bishop from Newport, South Wales. Natalie had baby Arthur’s cord blood cells harvested through the Model Cell Biobank service, and said she would recommend the simple and straightforward procedure to others.
“I really don’t know why we aren’t storing babies’ stem cells as a matter of course – it seems such a simple yet important thing to do,” she added.
But in the run up to World Cord Blood Day, blood cancer experts report that most of the general public remains unaware of stem cell storage and its value in providing a potentially life-saving treatment for a range of illnesses.
The promoters of World Cord Blood Day say: “Governments and policy makers worldwide need relevant and accurate information about cord blood stem cells in order to establish policies that help the greater good without hampering innovation.”
At LMRUK, we recently awarded our annual Early Career’s Grant to a research project investigating stem cell expansion at the University Oxford, led by Senior Scientist Dr Zhuoyao Chen.
Our operations director, Dr Joanna Tilley, said World Cord Blood Day was an excellent way to raise awareness of stem cell capabilities and urge more families to apply to have their babies umbilical cord blood harvested and stored.
“The annual event is helping to raise awareness of an important area of development in the treatment of blood cancers and other serious illnesses,” she said. “We hope it will encourage more mothers to apply to have the simple procedure carried out – it could prove to be a lifesaver for their child or other family members.”
To apply to have your baby’s umbilical cord blood collected and stored, or to find more information, go to https://lmruk.org/model-cell-biobank-service/
