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 HIV-infected mothers and of HIV-infected children to study vertical transmission and natural history of HIV infection in infected children. The HIV and pregnancy study focussed at pregnancy in HIV-infected women and on risk factors involved in vertical transmission.

The principle of the study remained the same from the beginning. HIV-infected pregnant women, their offspring and HIV-infected children 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.