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.

However, the hospital agreed to collect the cells after Ms McCauley signed a legal waiver absolving the hospital from liability should the procedure fail.

The hospital refused to disclose details of the waiver, citing patient confidentiality as the reason.

There is no national policy governing the banking of stem cells. While the service is not routinely offered by the country’s public maternity hospitals, some private hospital do offer it.

It is believed that Cavan General reversed its policy after Ms McCauley told the media that she hoped to be well enough after having her baby to be able to collect the stem cells herself.

After learning of her plight, staff at the hospital volunteered to collect the sample after she gave birth.

The hospital consulted lawyers and risk management specialists who brokered a deal last week.

Ms McCauley spent the last 20 years in America researching stem-cell therapy and has worked for a number of leading pharmaceutical companies.

She pointed out that the procedure by which the stem cells are collected caused no harm to the baby. The stem cells are collected after the baby’s cord has been cut and clamped.

Ms McCauley explained that she only returned to her family to Ireland three months ago and it was her obstetrician in America who first suggested that she make arrangements to have the stem cells stored. It was not something she had originally planned to do but agreed to look into it.

“I was very quickly convinced that it was the right thing to do if you were going to be a parent,” she said.

In the past two years, certain stem cell research has shown that umbilical cord blood can be used to treat childhood cancers.

“These studies have absolutely convinced me that stem cell therapy is proven in childhood cancers and there is the possibility of stem cells being used to treat other diseases like diabetes and spinal cord injury in the future,” said Ms McCauley.