Our objectives

The objectives of the EURO-PERISTAT ^[1]project are to survey and assess the health of mothers and children during the perinatal period – pregnancy, delivery, and post partum – in Europe with reliable, useful, and validated indicators. The project began in 1999 as part of the EU’s Health Monitoring Program and has now reached its fourth phase; it seeks to produce perinatal health data routinely throughout Europe.

Our work

We developed a list of perinatal health indicators, updated regularly to take into account changes in both the data needed and the production of statistics in each country. It covers four principal themes: i) fetal and newborn health, ii) women’s health, iii) population characteristics and risk factors, and iv) medical practices and health-care facilities.

We have compiled the statistics produced by each country for their births in 2000, 2004, and 2010 and published two reports that include all of the statistics collected for the indicators chosen, one for births in 2004 and the other for births in 2010. Detailed data are available for these indicators, both crude and according to characteristics associated with each (for example, neonatal mortality rate according to weight, gestational age, and number of fetuses).

Organization

This project is coordinated by the EPOPé team and includes representatives of 26 European Union Member States, as well as Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

To learn more

Consult the EURO-PERISTAT site ^[1], and in particular:

The report on births in 2010 ^[2] (pdf document)
The list of detailed indicators
The publications based on these data

The situation in France compared with the other European countries:

Blondel B, Zeitlin J.
La santé périnatale en France : une position moyenne en Europe, mais quelques différences préoccupantes. ^[3]
J Gyn Obstet Biol Reprod 2013;42 :609-612 (éditorial) (free).