French National Perinatal Surveys

ENPBackground

France has no national medical registry for monitoring the main indicators of mothers’ and newborns’ health, medical practices during pregnancy and childbirth, or risk factors.
National Perinatal Surveys (ENP) are periodically performed to provide data on these indicators and help the orientation of prevention policies.

Calendar

Four National Perinatal Surveys have thus far been conducted in France, in 1995, 1998, 2003, 2010 and March 2016.

Objectives

  • To measure the main indicators of health status, medical practices during pregnancy and delivery, and perinatal risk factors; it is possible to monitor their trends using the previous surveys and to compare these indicators to those from other countries.
  • To contribute information to guide decision making in public health and assess health actions in the perinatal domain, based on specific questions in each survey.
  • To provide a reference national sample to enable comparisons with data from other sources;

Method

  • Population: all live born or stillborn neonates in France, at a gestational age of at least 22 weeks or weighing at least 500 g at birth.
  • All births during one week in all public and private maternity units and birth centers.
  • Data collection from two sources:
    – Interview with each woman in the postpartum ward.
    – Data from the medical files.

National perinatal survey 2016

The questionnaires include items that are identical from one survey to the next and thus enable us to monitor the principal perinatal health indicators over time. Another purpose of these surveys is to produce information about particular problems that are an issue around the time of the survey. In 2010, for example, questions were asked about the prevention of influenza AH1N1 and the care associated with it.
In 2016, questions will enable us to assess prevention policies and guidelines (such as vaccination for whooping cough and screening for gestational diabetes). Others allow us to understand more clearly how changes in the organization of maternity units affect the care women receive during pregnancy and at childbirth.

Services involve in the 2016 project

  • The Ministry of Health

– The Directorate-General of Health
– The Direction of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics
– Directorate-General of Health Care Provision

  • The French national institute for health and medical research (INSERM), obstetrical, perinatal and pediatric epidemiology research team (EPOPé).
  • The French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS),
  • The Maternal and Child Health Services in each district.

Team

For more information

Main recommended indicators for perinatal health in Europe

EURO PERISTAT