International Network of Obstetric Survey Systems (INOSS) | SHEER

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The International Network of Obstetric Survey Systems (INOSS) is a multinational collaboration of organisations conducting prospective population-based studies of serious illnesses in pregnancy and childbirth. Many severe complications of pregnancy are uncommon and therefore difficult to study, and hence management is rarely based on robust evidence. The organisations participating in the network conduct high quality studies of these uncommon disorders on a regional, national and international basis with the objective of improving the quality of care for both women and their infants.

Mission statement

The mission of INOSS is to improve the care given to women, their babies and their families, by advancing knowledge and contributing to the evidence base about serious and rare disorders in pregnancy including near-miss events, through international co-operation and collaborative working.

Aims

To promote co-operation and collaboration across and between existing population-based Obstetric Survey Systems.
To support the development of new population-based Obstetric Survey Systems.
To share information about on-going and completed surveys, including protocol details, case definitions, study methodologies, analytical approaches and outcomes.
To encourage the development of shared study protocols to enable the harmonisation of the case definitions used and the variables collected, and thus enable pooling of data, particularly for the most serious and rare disorders in pregnancy. Thereby enabling cross-national comparisons of incidence, aetiology, management, prevention and outcomes.
To conduct contemporaneous collaborative studies across different Survey Systems.
To discuss issues of common interest including case definitions, data validation, methodology, ethics, data protection, patient confidentiality and the publication of results involving small numbers.
To support continued enhancement and harmonisation of the performance of Obstetric Survey Systems.
To seek to provide evidence to enable prevention where possible, manage better, and improve outcomes and thereby contribute to improvements in patient safety and the quality of care provided to women with serious, and rare disorders in pregnancy.
Through dissemination of findings, advocate for best care for mothers and for funding for research into serious, rare disorders in pregnancy.
To seek funding to support INOSS to ensure the long-term sustainability of INOSS.
To provide training opportunities for the public, researchers, and health professionals, utilizing the expertise of the network participants.

Principles

National and Regional Survey Systems will be members of INOSS whilst at the same time remaining independent and responsive to their own national survey requirements.