Over the last 2 years, here in the Cork University Maternity Hospital, through the BIHIVE study (Biomarkers in Hypoxic-Ischaemic Encephalopathy study) we have identified potential biochemical markers in umbilical cord blood which can accurately identify those infants who will progress to moderate/severe encephalopathy (10,11). The BIHIVE study has adopted a multifaceted approach to identifying blood-borne biomarkers in HIE through 1) targeted proteomic profiling using Luminex technology 2) miRNA profiling 3) comprehensive mapping of the blood metabolome using both Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance techniques.