A child’s future health and development are established during the perinatal period by several factors, such as life, heredity, diet as well as employment and family situation. In order to achieve a good understanding of these factors have on child development, it is necessary to conduct longitudinal follow-up studies.
Objectives
This study is aimed at understanding the effects of perinatal events on child development, by focusing on factors affecting four major issues in perinatality: 1. prematurity; 2. assisted procreation techniques; 3. intrauterine growth retardation; and 4. birth defects.
Method Approximately 5,000 families (pregnant women, fathers and newborns) will take part in this birth cohort study - from the onset of pregnancy to when the child is two years old. Parents are asked to provide information on their environment and life style as well as biological samples that make it possible to measure, for instance, environmental contaminants and genetic factors that may affect health. Children will be monitored to evaluate their growth and development indices. The databank and samples will enable researchers to identify factors that contribute toward the proper development of the fetus and child and identify risk factors for developmental issues.
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from five universities is responsible for the study; they make up the Integrated Research Network in Perinatology of Quebec and
Eastern Ontario (IRNPQEO). Families will be recruited at the 13 sites across Quebec and Eastern Ontario: CHU Saint Justine, the CHUM (St-Luc Hospital), McGill University Health Centre, the CHUS, the CHUQ, Sacré-Cœur Hospital, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital Center, the Jewish General Hospital, the Ottawa Hospital, OVO Clinic, and the Clinique de fertilité de Montréal.
Prinicipal Investigator: William Fraser, CHU Saint Justine
Investigators (and collaborators) from McGill teaching hospitals:
MUHC: Richard Brown profile; Ri-Cheng Chian profile; Robert Gagnon profile; Patricia Monnier profile; Seang Lin Tan profile; Togas Tulandi profile; (Bill Buckett profile; Rima Slim profile)
JGH: Haim Abenhaim profile
SMHC: (Robert Hemmings profile)
Funded by: the Canadian Institute of Health Research
For more information or to take part in the study:
Call: 514 345-4931 ext. 7169
Visit: www.IRNPQEO.ca