Mother is first in Britain to donate stem cells taken from her baby

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Camilla Judge, 33, from East Dulwich, signed up for the scheme when pregnant with her daughter Darcey, now eight months old.

In the painless five-minute procedure doctors at King's College used a sterile needle to remove blood from Mrs Judge's placenta and Darcey's umbilical cord soon after birth.

King's is the first of 10 hospitals around the country to extract umbilical cord blood to treat patients with diseases such as leukaemia.

Experts say the project could save the lives of up to 4,000 people awaiting transplants a year.

Mrs Judge, a property developer, todaysaid she was inspired to join the scheme after donating bone marrow to her brother as a teenager. She added: "I would urge any new mother to do this. It is harmless and quick."

Umbilical cord blood and the placenta are rich in stem cells which can develop into any type of human cell.

In the past, cancer patients have relied on bone marrow donations. Stem cells are far more successful in battling disease and do not have to be an exact tissue match with patients.

The cells are being kept at what will become the UK's largest umbilical cord blood bank. Run by the Anthony Nolan Trust, it will be officially opened by Health Secretary Alan Johnson in Nottingham today.

The King's project and Mrs Judge's story will be featured on BBC One's Inside Out programme next Wednesday. Mrs Judge told the programme: "This is just tissue which would otherwise be thrown away."

The NHS bank's main focus is on gathering donations from ethnic minorities as there is a shortage of potential matches in these groups.

Professor Ghulam Mufti, head of the King's stem cell transplant centre, said donations were crucial for patients with a high risk of rejecting bone marrow transplants.

He added: 'This project is a major step forward. It means we can transplant these cells straight away."

King's has had a pilot scheme since last December and 56 women have so far donated cords and placentas.