FAIRsharing record for: Policy for use and oversight of samples and data arising from the Biomedical Resource of the 1958 Birth Cohort (National Child Development Study)

This FAIRsharing record describes: The 1958 birth cohort (1958BC) or National Child Development Study (NCDS) started out as a study of Perinatal Mortality that recruited just over 17,000 births in a single week (3rd- 9th March) in 1958. It aimed to identify social and obstetric factors linked to stillbirth and neonatal death and its findings contributed to the improvement of maternity services in Britain and to a subsequent reduction in perinatal mortality. Although the original survey was not planned as a longitudinal study, the participants have been followed ever since, and in 2002-2003, a Biomedical Survey of the cohort (aged 44–45 yr) was conducted, with several collaborating partners, under the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) ‘Health of the Public’ initiative. This has led to new governance requirements, described in this policy.