You make a compelling argument. Whilst not being a fence sitter by nature, I believe there has to be a point where both requirements are met. The baby receives all the blood that he or she needs; and there is some that is available for stem cell harvesting.

I don't think any parent wants to put their baby's life at risk. It's is rather paradoxical that one of the reasons for private collection of cord blood is too possibly help that infant in the future.

There is too little education in these matters for young parents - and what education is available is often influenced by a pro or anti stance on a particular subject - in this case the collection and storage of cord blood.

You talk of the 30 seconds, I know as soon as our babies were born the clamp came out, I was offered the scissors and the job was done - time - well in the heat of child birth who knows how long it actually took - perhaps it was longer than 30 seconds.

My point in my article was that, even if it was after 30 seconds or longer, cord blood donation was not available and the subject is treated with disdain in most hospitals.

I think cord blood stem cells do offer some hope in the future, but not at the risk of the newborn.

Thanks for adding to the discussion. Any further information would be appreciated so I can do a follow up post on 'asphyxiation'.

cheers

les