National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre
Director: Professor R. Greene
The National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre (NPEC) collaborates with Irish maternity services to translate clinical audit data into improved maternity care for families in Ireland. It conducts audit and research into pregnancy outcomes in the Irish maternity services. The NPEC is directed by Professor Richard A Greene and are a team of midwives, researchers, administrators and clinicians. Every time a mother gives birth in Ireland, the important interventions, the good outcomes and the complications are recorded and analysed at a national specialist centre.1
The NPEC produces annual clinical audit reports on perinatal mortality, maternal morbidity, home births and very low birth weight babies in Ireland. At local hospital level, the NPEC provides customised feedback to individual hospitals on how they compare against the national average. In addition, the NPEC supports the Maternal Death Enquiry (MDE) Ireland, which investigates cases of maternal mortality. The NPEC is funded by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and is based at Cork University Maternity Hospital in the UCC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The Centre continues to build on its existing portfolio of audit and quality review. The Centre also investigates pertinent research topics in maternal and perinatal health, including pregnancy loss; models of maternity care; the impact of Caesarean section in subsequent pregnancies.
The NPEC continues to prosper amongst the good will granted to it by the many midwives, obstetricians, academics, neonatologists and administrators who support and collaborate with the Centre; and similarly, the patients who agree to participate in its large cohort research studies. This year 2019 marks a significant year for the NPEC. The NPEC are highlighting 10 years of data and audit in the maternity services. The NPEC fully intends to continue its commitment to improving the maternity services for women and babies in Ireland.
To find out more visit the NPEC website http://www.ucc.ie/en/npec/