| **National Center    for     Health Statistics            Division of Data     Services            6525 Belcrest Road     Hyattsville, MD     20782-2003     (301)458-4636      **

 
**National    Vital Statistics SystemHome |NVSS Home  | Birth Data | Mortality    DataFetal Death Data | Marriages and DivorcesLinked Births/Infant Deaths | NSFG | NMFS | NMIHSNational Death Index | Search    NCHS | Contact Us  **
 

******National Maternal and Infant    Health Survey**

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

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. 

The NMIHS is based on questionnaires    administered to nationally representative samples of mothers with live births,    stillbirths, and infant deaths during 1988 and to  physicians, hospitals, and other    medical care providers associated with those outcomes.  The survey is based on 10,000    live births, 4,000 fetal deaths, and 6,000 infant deaths.

Earlier studies about maternal and    infant health are the National Natality Surveys, conducted in 1963, 1964-66, 1968-69,    1972, and 1980.   A National Fetal Mortality Survey was done in 1980, and a National    Infant Mortality Survey was conducted in 1964-66.

Early findings are published in *Vital    and Health Statistics*, **Series 22**. Data from    later surveys now appear in **Series 21**.

 

 

**National    Vital Statistics SystemHome | NVSS Home  | Birth Data | Mortality    DataFetal Death Data | Marriages and DivorcesLinked Births/Infant Deaths | NSFG | NMFS | NMIHSNational Death Index | Search    NCHS | Contact Us  **
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This page last reviewed May 12, 2000

**U.S.    DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES****Centers    for Disease Control and Prevention**    National Center for Health Statistics    Division of Data Services     Hyattsville, MD    20782-2003    (301) 458-4636
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