Obstetrics (Maternity) - Umbilical Cord Neonatal Screening including Cord Blood All babies born at the Tsuen Wan Adventist Hospital have their cord blood tested for common Chinese congenital diseases such as G-6-P-D Deficiency and thyroid hormone deficiency. If undetected, the former may result in the melting down of red blood cells and the latter may lead to mental handicap. Early detection is the greatest prevention. Caucasian babies are in addition offered the phenylketonuria (better known as PKU) test. This is normally carried out after a few days of milk feeding. Blood grouping is also routinely done on cord blood. Umbilical Cord Blood Collection and Long Term Storage Cord blood has recently been postulated to be useful in bone marrow transplantation since it is rich in stem cell. Parents can request for umbilical cord blood storage by a commercial firm, independent of Adventist Health. The birthing room staff will collect cord blood as an additional service. This is a very safe procedure and has been used for almost a decade. However, Tsuen Wan Adventist Hospital cannot be held responsible for providing long term storage facilities. Mothers will need to sign a statement declaring having been fully counseled by the commercial company responsible for the cryogenic storage, before the Hospital will provide the umbilical cord blood collection service. The latter procedure is not part of the Hospital obstetrics package. Umbilical Stomp Care Infants born at the Hospital are automatically given a voucher for free after care of the umbilical stomp at the Child Care Services Department.
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