A rapid questionnaire assessment of environmental exposures to pregnant women in the INTERGROWTH-21st Project.

Impaired fetal growth and preterm birth are the leading causes of neonatal and infant mortality worldwide and there is a growing scientific literature suggesting that environmental exposures during pregnancy may play a causal role in these outcomes. Our purpose was to assess the environmental exposure of the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study (FGLS) participants in the multinational INTERGROWTH-21(st) Project. First, we developed a tool that could be used internationally to screen pregnant women for such exposures and administered it in eight countries on a subsample (n = 987) of the FGLS participants.

Implementation of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project in the UK.

There are approximately 10,000 births per year in the county of Oxfordshire in the UK, which is one of the two European sites for the International Fetal and Newborn Growth Consortium for the 21(st) Century (INTERGROWTH-21(st) ) Project. The samples for both components of the project--the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study (FGLS) and Newborn Cross-Sectional Study (NCSS)--were drawn from the John Radcliffe Hospital, a major university hospital with a large regional role that covers more than 75% of deliveries in the county. Special activities to encourage participation in this population included the formation of a research coalition to streamline recruitment in the Maternity Unit and the distribution of study information leaflets to women using the hospital's antenatal care service.