Paulette Simpson 43, lives with her partner in London and has recently given birth to her first baby. Paulette donated her umbilical cord blood and believes it is something all mothers should do as a matter of course.
‘Cord blood is just thrown away by the midwives after the woman gives birth, so why not use it to potentially save lives?’-says Paulette.
‘I was also on the Anthony Nolan register, which I joined about ten years ago. I’ve had to come off the register for a while because I’ve had a baby, but I will go back on it as soon as I am able.
I was planning to have my cord blood sent to a private clinic, in case my child needed it at a later stage in his life, but at King's College Hospital, London I was told about an initiative they were involved in with The Anthony Nolan Trust, who are setting up the UK’s first charitable cord blood bank.
I was put in touch with Terie Duffy from King's, who collects the cord blood, and I decided not to send it to a private clinic, but to put it in their bank as it could potentially be more useful. My son was born on 26th January this year, and Terie came along and did the collection herself.I feel proud to have done this, and would definitely do it again. Somehow, it made me feel more involved with the hospital; I felt like I was giving something back.
When you think about how many women all over the country give birth every year, that is a lot of cord blood, which could be used to potentially help many people with leukaemia and other diseases.
Hopefully, with more awareness, it will eventually be done routinely in every hospital – giving numerous people hope and the chance of a future’
