About

The Postpartum Assessment of Health Survey (PAHS) is a multi-state survey designed to advance our understanding of how to improve the health and quality of life of postpartum people and families in the year after a child is born. The PAHS is conducted as a 12-14 month follow-up to the CDC Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) in partnership with city and state health departments across the country (see our Partners). The survey sample is weighted to be representative of all live births in the participating jurisdictions. The survey instrument includes questions about physical and mental health, health care use and the social determinants of health in the year after giving birth (see Survey Topics). PAHS data will provide insights on actionable strategies that could be taken by state health departments, governments, clinicians and other relevant actors to promote the health of families and mitigate maternal morbidity and mortality in the year after birth.

Current Status

2020 PAHS:The 2020 PAHS followed birthing people who had a live birth in 2020 in 6 states and NYC. Data collection is now complete and analysis is actively underway. Technical documentation describing the methodology of the 2020 PAHS can be downloaded here. See Publications for some of the key published results from the 2020 PAHS.

2024 PAHS:The 2024 PAHS will follow birthing people who have a live birth in 2020 in 7 states and NYC. Data collection will occur from January 2025 to March 2026 and data will be available for analysis in fall 2026.

Data Use and Access

The PAHS data is not currently available for external distribution. If you are interested in collaborating with the PAHS team, please reach out to Jamie Daw.