Southampton Women’s Survey

Between 1998 and 2002 the Survey team interviewed over 12,583 Southampton women aged 20 to 34 years. Those who became pregnant after interview were invited to take part in the pregnancy phase of the survey. Women received ultrasound scans at 11, 19 and 34 weeks of pregnancy, and their babies were measured soon after birth. There were 3,158 babies born to women in the study between 1998 and 2007. The survey has followed up these children with home visits at six months, one year, two and three years. A sample of over 1,000 children was seen at 4 years of age, more than 2,000 children at ages 6-7 years, and more than 1,000 at 8-9 years. Current follow-up of children at 11-13 years will continue for a number of years.

The aim is to learn more about the dietary,lifestyle, hormonal and omic factors that influence the health of women and their children.

Last Update 21/09/2017

Types General population-based cohort
Participant Types No diagnosis
Countries United Kingdom
Genders Male and Female
Sample sizes 10,000 to 19,999
Ages 0 to 9|10 to 19|20 to 39|40 to 59
Brain related measures Behaviour|Cognitive function|Mental health
Funtional rating
Anthropometric Blood pressure|Height|Waist circumference|Weight
Physical Cardiovascular|Musculoskeletal|Reproductive|Respiratory
Biological samples Blood|Other|Urine
Genotyping Gene screening
Brain imaging
Brain banking
Lifestyle Alcohol|Dietary habits|Physical activity|Smoking
Socio-economic Education|Ethnic group|Family circumstances|Housing and accommodation|Income and finances|Marital status|Occupation and employment
Health service utilisation
Institute names University of Southampton
Current Sample Sizes 10,000 to 19,999

age at recruitment 20-34
last updated
recruitment period 1998-2002
estimated current sample size number value 2000
cohort acronym SWS
start date 1998-2002
pi Professor Hazel Inskip
website http://www.mrc.soton.ac.uk/sws/
contact details
abstract  SWS aims to learn about the dietary, lifestyle, hormonal and ﾑomic factors that influence the health of women and their children. 12,583 women were interviewed between 1998 and 2002 and 3158 children were born to those women.
funders  University of Southampton|UK Medical Research Council|Dunhill Medical Trust|British Heart Foundation|Food Standards Agency|European Union Seventh Framework Programme|NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre
contact email Email: [email protected]
contact phone number 
estimated current sample size 0 to 4,999
sample sizes 12583