The Fetal and Neonatal Physiological Society (FNPS) was founded in 1974 during an informal meeting in Oxford. Prof. Geoffrey Dawes (1918-1996) and Dr. Gerhard (Bo) Gennser took the initiative and were made honorary members of the society in 1995.
The name of the annual conference (and society) has changed several times, reflecting the widening scope of the society.
1974-80 Conference on Fetal Breathing
1981-83 International Conference on Fetal Breathing and other Movements
1984-95 Society for the Study of Fetal Physiology
1996-date Fetal and Neonatal Physiological Society

Mission statement
The FNPS stimulates discussion and exchange of ideas between physiologists, obstetricians and neonatologists. The society considers an informal gathering and presentations of new and preliminary data, especially by investigators in training, essential to achieve goals.

Membership
Over the years the society has maintained its informal character and a lack of rigid structures. Those who have attended at least one of the previous three meetings are members of the society and will be informed about the next meeting.

The aim of the Congress is to enable lectures and participants to exchange ideas, explore, and evaluate recent advances in Fetal and Neonatal Physiology and Perinatal Medicine in order to promote progress in clinical care. The Congress will provide an informal environment for scientific interchange of the highest quality. In this light the Scientific Committee invites the submission of abstracts to be considered for presentation as a poster or oral communication. They will offer an excellent way of presenting up-to-date scientific data to an interested audience and they will provide a great opportunity for scientific interchange by young investigators.

Continual Medical Education Credits
Approval of the Congress Programme for Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credits has been applied for with the Accreditation Council of the relevant international societies and the Italian Ministry of Health. Certificates of attendance will be made available to the participants of the Congress.

Early bird registration
There is not a fee for take part to the meeting. The rate includes full board and lodging for 4 nights (September 11,12,13,14) gala dinner, transfer from/to Pisa Airport/ Railway station. The travel companions are considered as participants.

EUR 550,00 per person (double room) or EUR 700,00 (single room).

Students: The organizing committee may be able to offer a reduction in the cost of registration (as a refund) to Students. If you wish to be considered for this refund tick the box in the abstract form. A letter confirming your status from the Head of Department will be required.

Deadline:
Closing date for early bird registration will be July 30, 2004
Abstracts must be received by June 30, 2004

Tuscany is a charmed land, equally blessed by the genius of man and nature, and often by the combined efforts of both. The extraordinary variety of the landscape traditions, superb artistic and cultural patrimony, make Tuscany the emblem and the synthesis of Italy in general.
Think of the vineyards: rows of baby green vines that manage somehow to march in arrow-straight formation up the gently rolling hillsides, bounded by single files of darker green cypress trees, snaking sandy roads leading to rust-colored farmhouses and moss-coated castles, symmetrically rounded hilltops surmounted by towns so homogeneous as to seem one single building. Every inch of land has been sculpted, first by the elements and then by generations of inhabitants whose goals were always twofold: make the land produce as much as possible, make the land as beautiful as possible. Tuscany enchants us today because it holds together as a region, from the tiniest hamlet to Florence the Magnificent. You could be anywhere in Tuscany, and we dare you not to fantasize about living here.


The International Center “Il Ciocco”
Is situated in the Northern Tuscany at approximately 40 Km from Lucca, 60 Km from Pisa, and 110 Km from Florence. In the heart of Garfagnana, one of Tuscany’s most enchanting valley, in 2,000 acres of natural park it offers great hospitality and all the facilities for living the Congress in absolute relax.
It can be reached by motorway: from Rome (airport) and from Milan (airport) by taking the A11 motorway (Florence-Sea) till the exit for Lucca. Direct flights from London, Paris, and Frankfurt arrive daily to the Pisa airport where a free shuttle will drive you to the Center the day of arrival and departure. The railway station of Pisa where almost hourly Inter-City trains arrive from the South (Naples-Rome) and from the Northern Europe via Turin and Milan.