Collaborative Perinatal Project

The Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP), also known as the National Collaborative Perinatal Project (NCPP), was a large-scale, multi-site cohort study conducted in the United States from 1959 to 1965. It enrolled over 55,000 pregnant women across 12 academic centers to investigate how complications during pregnancy or the perinatal period affect birth outcomes and child development, particularly neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy. The study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke.

Originally established in 1954 under the name "Collaborative Study of Cerebral Palsy...", it underwent several name changes before being referred to as the CPP. Despite initial criticisms about data quality, later validation confirmed its high-quality research. The study collected extensive data on maternal health, including pre-pregnancy factors like weight and height, demographic details, smoking status, reproductive history, and maternal serum screening results at each visit.

The findings were published in key reports: "The Women and Their Pregnancies" in 1972 and a follow-up study, "The First Year of Life," in 1979. These publications detailed the outcomes of 37,431 children born during the study period, focusing on birth complications, growth patterns, neurological conditions like cerebral palsy, and other developmental issues up to age seven.

Overall, the CPP remains a landmark epidemiological study, renowned for its comprehensive approach and significant contributions to understanding perinatal and child health.