Pregnancy and Birth Cohorts in Europe

Abirth cohort study is a form of study that uses expectant mothers and newbornas research subjects. This form of research is suitable for epidemiologicalstudies, which pregnancy and birth cohort studies generally are. Data iscollected in order to identify health consequences and overall health outcomes.The main aim of this paper is to review and summarize all cohort studies thathave been carried out or are still being conducted in Europe, as well asgeneral information such as aim of the study, number of participants andduration of follow-up. Gathering information was made easier by websites suchas Birthcohorts, CHICOS and LifeCycle, where many of the cohorts and theirsources are listed. The remaining data was found by searching Google Scholar,PubMed and similar webpages, using keywords ‘birth and pregnancy cohorts’, ‘infants’,‘pregnancies’, ‘allergies’ and ‘childhood obesity’. Overall, 137 cohorts in 27countries were found. They are a great and important source of information andfor the most part, concentrate on general health and wellbeing of mothers andchildren. Collaboration between different birth cohorts is crucial for furtherharmonization of collected data and their use in the public health systemsworldwide