EPICE / SHIPS Projects

The Effective Perinatal Intensive Care In Europe (EPICE) and Effective Screening to Improve Health in Very Preterm Infants in Europe (SHIPS) projects

Very preterm infants, born before 32 weeks of gestation, constitute about 1% of all births. These vulnerable infants face higher risks of mortality and neonatal morbidity as well as longer-term health and developmental problems than infants born at term. The EPICE and SHIPS projects study the use of evidence-based practices, health care, follow-up screening and prevention programmes for very preterm infants. Evidence-based care means that clinicians and policy makers use the best scientific evidence to make decisions about medical procedures and health care services.

The two projects investigated care received by children born very preterm in 19 regions in 11 European countries. The first EU funded study, EPICE, constituted a birth cohort, including all stillbirths and live births <32 weeks of gestation in participating regions over a 12 month period (6 months in French regions) in 2011 and 2012. Data were abstracted from medical records on the children’s characteristics and clinical courses. The cohort included 10389 births, of which 7900 were alive at birth and .6792 survived to discharge home. These children were followed-up until 2 years of age using a parental questionnaire to collect data on their health and development.

The H2020 SHIPS project, which focused on follow-up and prevention programmes, followed-up the children to five years of age. Information was collected on the children’s health, healthcare use and quality of life as well as on the coverage, content and costs of the follow-up and screening programmes in the participating regions.

The projects were carried out by a consortium of clinicians, researchers and parent representatives from the 11 participating countries. Publications are highlighted here and a brochure for parents can be found here: [link to brochure – available in 6 languages]]. Click below for more information.