1 After the delivery, the doctor clamps and cuts the baby's umbilical cord.

2 The cord blood can then be collected either with a syringe or it is drawn into a sterile blood bag via a connected needle which pierces the umbilical cord.

3 Before the baby's birth, the mother's blood will have been drawn for a range of tests for infectious diseases.

4 Later, the cord blood is taken to a laboratory for processing. Care is taken to ensure that all cord blood samples are handled separately so as to eliminate any mix-up.

5 The processed cord blood will then be stored in liquid nitrogen (left) at temperatures below -134deg C. All this is done within 48 hours of the baby's birth.

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