If you have recently given birth, your name may be picked by chance, like in a lottery, from the state birth certificate registry. If you are chosen, you will receive a MIHA survey by mail, and you may be contacted by an interviewer to do the survey over the phone or online. Because you are one of a small number of people who were randomly chosen to participate, your answers are very important, and no one can take your place..

Yes! Only a small number of people will receive the survey each year. Each pregnancy is different and there’s a lot we don’t know about what affects health during pregnancy. To get a better overall picture of the health of California families, we need every person who receives the survey to complete it. Your answers may help improve the health of families in California in the future.

The MIHA survey collects information from participants about their experiences and behaviors before, during, and after their pregnancies that might affect their health and the health of their babies. Many different things in a person’s life may affect their and their baby's health — even some things that don't seem to be about pregnancy and birth outcomes. Even events that happened before pregnancy can sometimes affect a pregnancy and the baby’s health. The MIHA questions are designed to gather information about the many aspects of a person’s life that can affect their health and the health of their baby.

Yes. Your name and contact information have been used by our research team only to contact you. We will not connect them to your survey answers. The answers given by all the participants who respond to the survey will be grouped together to give us information on California overall. Protecting your privacy is very important to us, and we are committed to making sure that your personal information is kept very secure.

If you were selected, please complete the survey and mail it back. You can also complete it online or on the phone. We offer a special gift to each participant who completes and returns their survey. Call Nina Lee at 1-855-367-6442 or email at ninalee@mihasurvey.org for more information.

Yes. The research team has compiled a list of resources  for California families.