Forget designer baby booties or pre-nursery cram school.

Cord blood banking may become the next 'must-have' for newborns.

The service, launched in 2001 by private cord blood bank CordLife, is catching on among younger parents. More than 30,000 couples in Singapore have chosen to store their newborns' cord blood so far.

There are currently three such banks. Two, CordLife and StemCord, are private. Cord blood stored in them is for the family's own use.

The third, Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB), accepts cord blood from donors and serves the public. Cord blood stored there is available to anyone in need.

On April 10, CordLife opened the largest private cord blood banking facility in South-east Asia at Science Park Road.

CordLife's chief executive officer Steven Fang said his company saw a 47 per cent increase in the number of clients last year. He expects similar numbers this year.

He suggested two reasons for this. First, the rising awareness of cord blood stem cells. Secondly, the increase in the number of parents taking up cord blood banking in the region.

Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta after birth. Cord blood banking is the practice of storing that blood indefinitely for future medical use.

It is a rich source of stem cells. Stem cells are immature cells which have the potential to develop in one of several ways and can produce all other blood cells like platelets and red and white blood cells. Doctors can now utilise cord blood to treat more than 80 diseases including leukaemia, lymphoma and anaemia.

Cord blood stored in SCBB can be used by anyone in need, subject to tissue type compatibility.

Siblings usually have a 75 per cent chance of compatibility and the odds decrease the more distant the relatives.

Mrs Teni Poon, 31, a housewife who banked her two youngest children's cord blood with CordLife in 2005 and 2006, likened the service to a form of 'medical insurance'. She said that she paid more than $1,000 for each child, the money going to blood tests and extraction of the cord blood. She pays $200 to $300 per child annually for storage.

Mrs Poon said: 'I was sceptical about cord blood banking at first but my gynaecologist encouraged me to do it. Then I read up on how precious cord blood is and that once you miss the chance of extraction at the baby's birth, you miss the opportunity forever.'

Convinced, she signed up, joining the thousands of parents who have embraced cord blood banking since the three banks were set up here.

Although her youngest son Joel, whose cord blood was banked, died after seven weeks due to a congenital heart defect, a condition that could not be treated, Mrs Poon has continued to store his cord blood.

Both CordLife CEO, Mr Fang, and Dr Ang Peng Tiam, director and co-founder of StemCord, said that 15 per cent of their banks' clients are from regional countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and India.

Dr Ang said: 'They know that Singapore has high standards in health care as well as stability in the economic and political environment and is also free from natural disasters.

'Should the stem cells be needed, they can be quickly shipped to any medical centre in the world.'

Asked what the typical profiles of CordLife clients are, MrFang said: 'They tend to be professionals like lawyers, doctors or engineers. There's also a steady increase in the number of middle-tier families, where the breadwinner is not a professional.'

But efforts are being made to ensure that cord blood banking is available not only to the rich or privileged.

CordLife has launched a new programme called CordLife Cares which is open to families with a history of cord blood treatable diseases and a combined monthly household income of less than $2,000. CordLife will pay for the extraction and storage as well as the future retrieval of cord blood for such less fortunate families.

Storing cord blood at CordLife and StemCord for 21 years normally costs $6,400 and $6,150 in total respectively.

It is stored free at SCBB but the cord blood collected is also free for all to use.

One person who donated her child's cord blood to SCBB is pre-school teacher K. Vasantha, 37.

She explained: 'I was reading about children suffering from leukaemia before my son was born in 2005. I thought then I should donate his cord blood to help other children.'

Asked why she did not store it with a private bank, she said: 'I'd have to pay and that was not my intention. I just wanted my son's cord blood to be available to save other children.'

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times, on April 30, 2008.