A Danish historical medical birth registry will reveal diseases

Millions of handwritten records from old midwife protocols in the National Archives are now being converted into a high-quality digital birth registry that researchers can use in future disease research. From left: Research Director Jennifer Baker, Senior Consultant Jeppe Klok Due, and physician and PhD student Alexander Lühr Hansen, who has researched the significance of birth weight for the development of type 2 diabetes, among other things.

Denmark is poised for a new advance in medical research with the development of a new digital registry, called the Historical Medical Birth Registry, supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The registry will contain data on nearly four million Danes, drawn from handwritten records in the Danish National Archives covering the period from 1926 to 1973.

Not a subscriber yet? Click here to get full access!

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM THE AUTHOR