The Swiss Mother and Child HIV Cohort Study is a merger of the former Neonatal HIV Study (founded in 1986 by Christian Kind, St. Gallen) and the Swiss HIV and Pregnancy Study (founded in 1989 by Christoph Rudin, Basel).

Initially, the main goal was to collect data of children born to women living with HIV and of children living with HIV to study vertical transmission and natural history of HIV. The HIV and pregnancy study focussed at pregnancy in women living with HIV and on risk factors involved in vertical transmission.

The principle of the study remained the same from the beginning. Pregnant women living with HIV, their offspring and children living with HIV have been followed according to good clinical practice as defined by expert panels, such as the FKT (Fachkommission Klinik und Therapie AIDS) and the PAGS (Pediatric AIDS Group of Switzerland). Demographic information, clinical and laboratory data are collected with a set of structured questionnaires. Data collection is anonymous.