Our vision
Improve health, development and quality of life of babies born preterm
Although very preterm or very low weight births constitute fewer than 2% of all births across Europe, they account for up to half of perinatal and infant deaths, children with impairments and disabilities and more than a third of the health and educational budgets for children.
In addition to the increased risk for physical impairments, babies born the earliest and the smallest are also at higher risks of psychological and social problems than infants born at term. The RECAP preterm Project aims to understand the causes of these difficulties faced by very preterm children and adults in order to improve the health, development and quality of life of these individuals.
A strong and unique network
Extensive cohort studies and the collation of large amounts of data
The key to finding the causes as well as the treatment and prevention options for preterm babies lies in extensive cohort studies and the optimal use of large amounts of data on very preterm children. The RECAP preterm Project aims at using these two elements to discover new pre- and postnatal risk factors.
In order to reach this goal, we have established the RECAP preterm Cohort Platform, a unique and powerful network of experts from various disciplines as well as parent and patient organizations. The network includes the major longitudinal studies in Europe and around the world and assembled massive amounts of data that will reflect broad geographic, cultural and health system diversity.