What is the Born and Bred in (BaBi) Network?
The Born and Bred in (BaBi) Network is a group of local electronic birth cohorts. Supported by the Born in Bradford programme, BaBi sites invite pregnant women to join the project and allow health researchers to join together routinely collected data about them and their baby.
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Where did the BaBi Network come from?
The BaBi Network was inspired by Born in Bradford’s successful use of routine data to follow up families over time. As a result, a local electronic birth cohort, BiB4All , was developed to ensure all women and babies could be involved who birthed at Bradford Royal Infirmary. BiB4All is the pioneering BaBi site. Other areas saw the potential to replicate this, and this led to the development of the BaBi Network. A team at Born in Bradford, known as the BaBi Network Coordinating Centre , lead the Network and are supporting a range of Trusts nationally to set up electronic birth cohorts in their local areas. The BaBi Network is a multi-site cohort study that is constantly expanding, and a full list of our sites is available here.
Who can join the BaBi Network?
People who are booked for their maternity care at a participating NHS trust are eligible to participate and will be invited by their midwife.
What are our aims?
To harness the power of routine data, at a local level, to improve the health and wellbeing of families through research in local populations. For example, linking health, education and social care data to investigate how mothers' and children's health and wellbeing develops over time.
To bring together data from the local cohorts to answer questions of national relevance, common priorities and in rare disease areas.
Thinking of taking part?
Participation in BaBi can :
Help shape future research priorities
Improve the health of your local community
Help increase involvement in research in your local area
Facilitate links with policy makers in your local area to improve health outcomes
Enable support from a large network of health and research practitioners
Click here to find out more about the study
The BaBi network is only possible thanks to the generosity of women and babies who joined the BaBi family and the enthusiasm and dedication of the midwives who invited them. We are grateful to all the women, babies, health professionals and researchers who make BaBi happen.
