Cohort profile: the PHARMO Perinatal Research Network (PPRN) in the Netherlands: a population-based mother-child linked cohort

Purpose Observational population-based research is a very suitable non-invasive method for studies in the vulnerable populations of pregnant women and children. Therefore, the PHARMO Perinatal Research Network (PPRN) was set up as a resource for life course perinatal and paediatric research by linking population-based data from existing registrations. Participants From 1999 to 2017, the PPRN captures approximately 542 900 pregnancies of 387 100 mothers (‘Pregnancy Cohort’). Additionally, mother–child linkage is currently available for a quarter of these pregnancies (‘Child Cohort’). The PPRN contains preconceptional information on maternal healthcare, as well as detailed pregnancy and neonatal data, extending into long-term follow-up and outcomes after birth for both mother and child up to nearly 20 years. It includes linked data from different primary and secondary healthcare settings. Findings to date Through record linkage of the Netherlands Perinatal Registry and the PHARMO Datab