newcehnheader
[ home ] [ resource guide ] [ training manual ] [ get involved ] [ publications ] [ index ] [ about CEHN ]

 


What's New

Donate
 Donate Now

Links

 

 

National Maternal and Infant Health Survey

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Division of Vital Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
6525 Belcrest Rd., Rm. 840
Hyattsville, MD 20872
Phone: (301) 436-7464
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/

The objective of the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey (NMIHS) is to collect data needed by Federal, State, and private researchers to study factors related to poor pregnancy outcomes, including low birthweight, stillbirth, infant illness, and infant death. The NMIHS is a followback survey -- it follows back informants named on vital records.

The 1988 survey expanded on information available for birth, fetal death, and infant death vital records and is the first national survey that included data on those three pregnancy outcomes simultaneously.

A 1991 longitudinal followup to the NMIHS was conducted to obtain additional information about respondents from the 1988 survey.

The NMIHS provide data on:
  • socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of mothers

  • prenatal care

  • pregnancy history

  • occupational background

  • health status of mother and infant, and

  • types and sources of medical care received.
Data from the study are used to evaluate factors affecting adverse outcomes of pregnancy.

A birth cohort study is planned to begin in the Year 2000 in conjunction with the National Center for Education Statistics.


Access Information
NCHS ReportsSanderson M, Placek P, Keppel K. "The 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey: Design, content, and data availability." Birth, 1991, 18 (1):26-32.
Singh GK, Yu SM. "Infant mortality in the United States: trends, differentials, and projections, 1950 through 2010." [see comments] American Journal of Public Health, 1995 Jul, 85(7):957-64.
World Wide Web AccessNational Center for Health Statistics web site http://ww w.cdc.gov/nchswww/about/major/nmihs/abnmihs.htm

Resource Guide Table of Contents