Developmental Follow-up

One of the goals of our research is to find out if certain exposures increase the chances of having a baby with birth defects.

If you participate in the Pregnancy Outcome Study, we may ask if you are willing to participate in the Developmental Follow-up section of our research study. Your participation will help us to provide better information to our future callers.

All of the assessments are safe and non-invasive measures that have been used before to test infants in the general population.

Pediatric Exam

If you participate in the Pregnancy Outcome Study you may be asked if you are willing to agree to a pediatric exam of your child, done by one of the study’s pediatricians.

The exam is a non-invasive physical exam. The infants are physically examined for evidence of any major or minor malformations. This examination involves a careful standardized external physical exam of the child including measurements of the baby’s weight, length, head circumference, length of the ears, distance between the eyes, size of the eye openings and length of the upper lip.

Developmental Questionnaires

If you participate in our study, you may be asked to complete a set of questionnaires that asks about your child’s progress in various key areas like: language, motor skills, cognitive skills and personal-social skills. One of the questionnaires will also screen for autism spectrum disorders.

Your child will be followed during the first 2 years of life, with questionnaires being distributed at 12-16 months old and 24-28 months old.

Face to Face Developmental Testing

If you participate in our study, you may be asked if you are willing to participate in our direct (‘face to face’) testing. A trained psychometrist will perform a developmental assessment.

The assessment is a play based screening that allows us to follow up with your child’s development in areas like language skills, motor skills, and cognitive abilities. If we perform the assessment, you will receive a written report describing your child’s performance and any concerns that may suggest a need for further testing.