For the past two years, couples in Qatar have had the option of privately banking their babies’ cord blood with Cryo-Save, a Netherlands-based company that has been collecting stem cells from umbilical tissue since the year 2000.
So far, about four dozen families here have chosen to bank with the company’s Dubai branch – a relatively small number, given the thousands of babies born in Doha each year. For some parents, the high cost of collecting and storing the cord blood for 20 years – 13,000 QAR – plays a factor.
But Doha residents will soon have another banking option, as Virgin Health Bank moves its headquarters from the United Kingdom to the Qatar Science & Technology Park. Working with Hamad Medical Center, the company, which was co-founded by Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group, plans to create the world’s first national stem cell bank…
For the full article please visit Qatar Visitor.
Part 1 in this series, Navigating Pregnancy in Qatar, can be found here.
Part 3 in this series, Laboring after Labor, can be found here.
Filed under: Clips Tagged: | Clips, doha, pregnant, qatar, Qatar Visitor, stem cells
