The Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank (AMND) was initiated in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Aberdeen, in 1950, by the late Professor Sir Dugald Baird, in collaboration with the Medical Research Council’s (MRC’s) Medical Sociology Unit. It was originally set up as a resource for the study of the physiology, pathology and sociology of pregnancy, but the usefulness of the AMND has extended significantly beyond this through linkage with other health and social care records as well as intergenerational and family linkages. The AMND is an invaluable resource for life-course epidemiology, especially since it is one of the earliest and most comprehensive obstetric databases. From the year 1950 to the present, this unique database has been recording all the obstetric and fertility-related events occurring in women residing in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. Data are collected from every pregnancy event occurring in Aberdeen Maternity Hospital which is part of the National Health Services (NHS) Grampian. Aberdeen Maternity Hospital is the only maternity hospital in the city of Aberdeen and serves the Grampian region as well as the Northern Isles, Shetland and Orkney, for tertiary maternity care. A dedicated midwives’ unit also based at the hospital provides shared maternity care for uncomplicated pregnancies. The hospital provides antenatal and postnatal care, with about 4000–5000 babies born every year. In addition, an early pregnancy unit based at the hospital manages complications such as miscarriage and other pregnancy loss. The AMND also captures data from these units. The AMND population coverage varies according to different areas. It covers about 99% of Aberdeen and about 97% of the entire Grampian region. This differential coverage is due to a small proportion of home births and deliveries in peripheral hospitals. This description references the International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 45, Issue 2, April 2016, Pages 389–394,

https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyv356