Longitudinal cohort studies present unique methodological challenges, especially when they focus on vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women. The purpose of this review is to synthesize the existing knowledge on recruitment and retention (RR) of pregnant women in birth cohort studies and to make recommendations for researchers to improve research engagement of this population. A scoping review and content analysis were conducted to identify facilitators and barriers to the RR of pregnant women in cohort studies. The search retrieved 574 articles, with 38 meeting eligibility criteria and focused on RR among English-speaking, adult women, who are pregnant or in early postpartum period, enrolled in birth cohort studies. Selected studies were birth cohort (including longitudinal) (n = 20), feasibility (n = 14), and other (n = 4) non-interventional study designs. The majority were from low-risk populations. Abstracted data were coded according to emergent theme clusters. The majority of abstracted data (79%) focused on recruitment practices, with only 21% addressing retention strategies. Overall, facilitators were reported more often (75%) than barriers (25%). Building trusting relationships and employing diverse recruitment methods emerged as major recruitment facilitators; major barriers included heterogeneous participant reasons for refusal and cultural factors. Key retention facilitators included flexibility with scheduling, frequent communication, and culturally sensitive practices, whereas participant factors such as loss of interest, pregnancy loss, relocation, multiple caregiver shifts, and substance use/psychiatric problems were cited as major barriers. Better understanding of facilitators and barriers of RR can help enhance the internal and external validity of future birth/pre-birth cohorts. Strategies presented in this review can help inform investigators and funding agencies of best practices for RR of pregnant women in longitudinal studies.

纵向队列研究提出了独特的方法学挑战，特别是当它们关注孕妇等弱势群体时。本综述的目的是综合关于出生队列研究中孕妇的招募和保留（RR）的现有知识，并为研究人员提出建议，以提高该人群的研究参与度。进行了范围审查和内容分析，以确定队列研究中孕妇 RR 的促进因素和障碍。检索检索到 574 篇文章，其中 38 篇符合资格标准，重点关注参加出生队列研究的怀孕或产后早期英语成年女性的 RR。选定的研究包括出生队列（包括纵向）（ n = 20）、可行性（ n = 14）和其他（ n = 4）非干预性研究设计。大多数来自低风险人群。抽象数据根据新出现的主题簇进行编码。大多数抽象数据 (79%) 关注招聘实践，只有 21% 涉及保留策略。总体而言，促进者 (75%) 比障碍 (25%) 更常见。建立信任关系和采用多样化的招聘方式成为主要的招聘促进因素；主要障碍包括不同的参与者拒绝原因和文化因素。关键的保留促进因素包括灵活的日程安排、频繁的沟通和文化敏感的做法，而参与者因素，如失去兴趣、流产、搬迁、多次护理人员轮班和物质使用/精神问题等被认为是主要障碍。 更好地了解 RR 的促进因素和障碍有助于提高未来出生/出生前队列的内部和外部有效性。本综述中提出的策略可以帮助研究人员和资助机构了解纵向研究中孕妇 RR 的最佳实践。