The study started in 2000 and the first families were recruited in 2001. At the beginning over a thousand mothers at ante-natal clinics in the Coombe University Hospital Dublin and in University College Hospital Galway agreed to take part. These pregnancies resulted in 1092 ‘index’ babies and their mothers, including 12 pairs of twins. Over nine hundred families also provided information on fathers and grandparents as well. We have been following the children’s health and development ever since.
Thanks to the participating families, we are able to compare the influence of father’s and mother’s side of the family on development from the earliest stage of pregnancy into childhood. This is one of the few studies in the world that has such grandparent participation.