Regarding the warnings from the United States on unproven stem cell therapies such as banking a baby's umbilical cord blood for future use, Dr Teo Cheng Peng, medical director of StemCord in Singapore said it is "timely that this warning was sounded against unjustified claims of value of stem cells uses in certain diseases".

Said Dr Teo: "For current medical therapies, there are proven uses of cord blood stem cells such as cord blood transplants for haematological malignacies. We are aware that there are many 'clinics' which offer 'therapies for all sorts of diseases' using stem cells. We do not practise or offer such therapies."

StemCord is one of two private cord blood banks in Singapore where the cord blood stored is for the family's own use. The other is CordLife.

A third cord blood bank - Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB) - is a public institution, it accepts cord blood from donors which is made available to anyone in need.

Both CordLife and SCBB could not be reached by press time.