Our Mission
The Euro-Peristat project’s goal has been to develop valid and reliable indicators that can be used for monitoring and evaluating perinatal health in the EU. The project began in 1999 as part of the Health Monitoring Programme and has continued into a third phase, with the ultimate aim of producing a European Perinatal Health Report and establishing a sustainable system for reporting perinatal health indicators.
Our Experts
At its onset, the Euro-Peristat project enlisted the assistance of perinatal health professionals (clinicians, epidemiologists, and statisticians) from EU member states and Norway and consulted with members of other networks including EUROCAT and SCPE to develop and test a recommended indicator list.
Using a multi-stage formal method called DELPHI, we were able to achieve consensus on a list of 10 core and 24 recommended indicators of perinatal health.
In addition to the time contributed by our experts and their institutions, Euro-Peristat has received support from the European Commission in multiple projects.
Our Indicators
The Euro-Peristat indicators are grouped into four themes: fetal, neonatal, and child health, maternal health, population characteristics and risk factors, and health services. We defined core indicators – those that are essential to monitoring perinatal health – and recommended indicators – those considered desirable for a more complete picture of perinatal health across the member states. We also identified indicators for further development – those that represent important aspects of perinatal health but require further work before they can be implemented within the member states. You can learn more about our indicator development or download our full list of indicators here.
Our Publications
A first study using data for the year 2000 was conducted to assess the feasibility of the Euro-Peristat indicators; the results were published in a special issue of the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and used for detailed analyses of health indicators in Europe. Since this time, Euro-Peristat has published four European Perinatal Health Reports and more than 60 scientific papers.