The European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (EFCNI) is the first pan-European organisation and network to represent the interests of preterm and newborn infants and their families. It brings together parents, healthcare experts from different disciplines, and scientists with the common goal of improving long-term health of preterm and newborn children. EFCNI’s vision is to ensure the best start in life for every baby. With our activities we want to reduce preterm birth rates, ensure the best possible treatment, care, and support, and to improve the long-term health of preterm infants and newborns with illnesses.

To achieve our aims, we are focusing on the following three areas:

Preconception and maternal care: We want to ensure widely accessible pregnancy information and the provision of effective, equitable high-quality care for all women of reproductive age.

Treatment and care: We aim at continuously improving treatment and care for all preterm babies and ill newborns as well as support for their families.

Continuing care: We seek to improve the long-term health of preterm infants and ill newborns. This also includes the provision of medical, psychological, socio-pedagogical, and financial support for these children and their families.

EFCNI is an advocate for preterm infants, ill newborns, and their families. Our work is dedicated to improving the situation of pregnant women and newborn infants in Europe across the full spectrum of care, promoting and protecting the right to the best start in life. Our work is based on the following three pillars:

Establishing a powerful network

We combine the forces of all stakeholders involved and foster collaboration to achieve our common vision by:

• Partnering with parents, healthcare professionals, scientists and their respective societies as well as with policy-makers, international non-profit and private sector organisations, UN agencies
• Empowering national parent organisations

Raising awareness

We call attention to the growing challenge of preterm birth and its significant impact on children, families, and our societies by:

• Running campaigns and (social) media work
• Constructive dialogue with political decision-makers and opinion-leaders
• Making the patient’s voice heard in the professional healthcare setting

Best practice sharing to implement high-quality treatment and care

We gather and multiply information to improve the quality of care by:

• Coordinating interdisciplinary projects, e.g. the development of harmonised European Standards of Care for Newborn Health, or the development of a basic framework for the operation of breast milk banks in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
• Providing easy-to-understand and widely accessible information for free for families and all those interested
• Promoting research and providing research support from the patient‘s perspective