Between 80% and 90% of extremely premature babies—those born before 28 weeks of gestation—suffer from anemia. To treat it, two-thirds of these infants require blood transfusions during the first weeks of life, but receiving adult blood carries some side effects. An Italian study published in 2025 demonstrated that transfusions of umbilical cord blood reduce the risk of pathologies common in premature infants, such as retinal, pulmonary, and circulatory problems, while also avoiding the complications associated with receiving adult blood. To demonstrate the viability of this transfusion technique, the Hospital Clínic Barcelona and the Blood and Tissue Bank (BST) conducted a clinical trial with 41 extremely premature babies with anemia, which yielded favorable results. The trial, presented at the Congress of European Societies of Neonatology, has passed its first phase, confirming that the infrastructure of Hospital Clínic and BST is suitable for performing cord blood transfusions. This makes the center a pioneer in Spain and "one of the only places in the world where we have a healthcare facility that allows for this technique," says Dr. Miquel Alsina, attending physician in the Neonatology Department at Hospital Clínic. He adds that they are already working on creating a multicenter study with six centers that can "treat as many children as possible when they need it."

You truly become an adult when your first child is born. But I've discovered there's another boundary you cross, when your children no longer need you as much. Then you become a kind of supervisor or firefighter, someone they call on in an emergency. I'm realizing now that my daughter is almost nineteen and already in university, and my youngest son is almost fourteen and practically halfway through secondary school.