Follow-up after very preterm birth in Europe

Follow-up programmes aim to detect neurodevelopmental and health problems and enable early interventions for children born very preterm (<32 weeks of gesta-tional age (GA)). Although the impor-tance of postdischarge follow-up is widely acknowledged, recommendations differ regarding eligibility criteria, frequency, duration and content, especially for follow-up beyond early childhood.1–3 We used data from a European cohort of chil-dren born very preterm to describe the use of routine follow-up services until 5years of age. [Opening paragraph]