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. 2022 Feb 11;37(3):295–304. doi: 10.1007/s10654-021-00831-8

Table 1.

Information collected by questionnaires, physical measurements, laboratory measurements and medical record abstraction, and biological samples collected in the China Birth Cohort study

Stages Measurements Methods Biobank

Early Pregnancy (6–13+6 gestation weeks)

Enrollment

Demographic characteristics: data of birth, ethnic group, education, occupation/employment, income, birthplace;

Health: height, weight (at preconception and early pregnancy), last menstrual period, blood pressure, health status, age of menarche, menstruation status, medical history, family history of birth defects;

Reproductive status: method of conception, number of fetuses, reproductive history, history of pregnancy complications;

Lifestyle: smoking status, alcohol, medication and supplements (folic acid, multi-vitamins), pets exposure;

Environmental exposure: housing characteristics, decoration, method of heating, use of air purifier, chemical exposure, use of pesticides, occupational exposure, working category, working hours;

Clinical factors and laboratory measurements;

Diets: eating habits of the past week, main meals in the past month including staple food, beans, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat, fish products, eggs, snacks, drinking water and soft drinks, cooking oil, dietary supplement;

 Structured questionnaire

Whole blood, serum,

Chorionic tissue from the fetus*
Mid-pregnancy (20–23+6 gestation weeks) Follow-up

Blood pressure, threatened abortion, pregnancy complications (GDM, PIH and Thyroid function);

Prenatal screening: Down's syndrome screening results, noninvasive prenatal testing, genetic screening for deafness, amniocentesis and other interventional prenatal diagnosis;

Clinical factors and laboratory measurements;

 Structured questionnaire/Physician’s medical records Amniocyte, cutaneous or muscular tissue from the fetus, placenta, cord blood or umbilical cord tissue*
Late Pregnancy (28–33+6 gestation weeks) Follow-up

Blood pressure, threatened premature labor, pregnancy complications (GDM, PIH and Thyroid function);

Prenatal screening: amniocentesis and other interventional prenatal diagnosis;

Clinical factors and laboratory measurements;

 Structured questionnaire/Physician’s medical records Amniocyte, cutaneous or muscular tissue from the fetus, placenta, cord blood or umbilical cord tissue*

Delivery

Follow-up

 Delivery data, delivery mode, neonatal sex, birth weight, birth length, head circumference, Apgar score, placenta size and shape, umbilical cord length; Structured questionnaire/Physician’s medical records Cutaneous or muscular tissue from the fetus, placenta, cord blood or umbilical cord tissue*
Father information

Demographic characteristics: data of birth, ethnic group, education, occupation/employment, income;

Health: height, weight, family history of birth defects;

Lifestyle: smoking status, alcohol;

 Structured questionnaire

*Only for cases with birth defects and controls (1:2). PIH: pregnancy induced hypertension. DM: diabetes mellitus

Peripheral blood samples are collected from all participants at enrollment, then processed and stored as whole blood and serum. Chorionic tissue from the fetus are collected from women who have a miscarriage in early pregnancy. Amniocytes are collected for those women opting to have amniocentesis during mid- and late pregnancy. Cutaneous or muscular tissue from the fetus, placenta, cord blood or umbilical cord tissue are collected from women with an induced labour or a birth defect, and cord blood or umbilical cord from controls