Mother’s joy as hospital harvests stem cells

SCIENTIST Catherina McCauley is now enjoying having her newborn baby daughter at home, after banking precious stem cells that can be used to treat an illness she may suffer in the future.

At the last minute, Cavan General Hospital agreed to harvest umbilical cord stem cells when Ms McCauley the gave birth last Sunday.

The mother-of-two had been told by hospital officials last month that staff would not allow her to collect the cells, which are for freezing in a special bank.