What to know
How do I get a copy of my facility’s mPINC report?
2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024 hospital reports are available. If you cannot locate your hospital's mPINC report, you may request a copy by emailing mpinc@cdc.gov. Requests must be sent from an official hospital email address and include the hospital's name and full address.
How do hospitals benefit from participation in the mPINC survey?
Once data collection and analysis are complete, CDC sends participating hospitals an individualized, private report. The report includes a summary of their survey’s results and a comparison of their results to national, regional, and similar-sized hospital results. Hospitals can use these results to celebrate strengths and identify improvement areas in their practices and policies affecting infant feeding.
What kind of questions does the survey ask?
The mPINC survey contains six core sections and one additional section for hospitals with a special care nursery or neonatal intensive care unit. The six core sections cover:
- Immediate postpartum care.
- Rooming-in.
- Feeding practices.
- Feeding education and support.
- Discharge support.
- Institutional management.
Who receives the mPINC survey?
CDC's contractor, Abt Global, begins survey administration by emailing or calling each hospital that participated in CDC's previous mPINC survey. Abt Global uses the email address or phone number of the person who submitted the previous survey.
CDC's contractor then screens all other hospitals. The contractor calls the hospital switchboard and asks for the lactation services coordinator, mother-baby nurse manager or, labor and delivery unit manager. Once the contractor identifies the best person to complete the survey, they will email the mPINC survey screening link to determine eligibility. Eligible hospitals will then be taken to the survey, which includes questions about infant nutrition, such as breastfeeding, using formula to feed healthy newborns, and feeding routines.
Because of how CDC administers the survey, the person identified to receive the survey one year is not necessarily the person identified to receive the survey in a later cycle. If you would like to update your hospital's mPINC survey point of contact, please email your name, phone number, and hospital name and address to mPINC@cdc.gov.
Who completes the mPINC survey?
No single person may be best able to answer all survey questions. CDC encourages the person completing the survey to get input from other key personnel as needed. Survey recipients will have the opportunity to send the survey, or components of the survey, to additional staff within their hospital to assist in completing.
How can a hospital find their mPINC survey link?
It is crucial for survey validity that we follow the same protocol to identify the survey recipients at each hospital as described above. You may want to talk with your hospital's lactation services coordinator, mother-baby nurse manager(s) or labor and delivery unit manager(s) to describe the mPINC survey's purpose and timing, or to see if they have already received an email or phone call from Abt Global. Discuss with them the best person to respond to the survey on your hospital's behalf. If you and your staff have not heard from Abt Global, email mPINC@cdc.gov to check on your hospital's survey status.
Are the survey responses kept private?
CDC will keep the information that you provide private and secure to the extent permitted by law.
Upon request, data with hospital identifiers (i.e., hospital name and address) may be shared under a data use agreement with applicable state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments for the development of public health programs. Data without hospital identifiers may be released under data use agreements for additional approved purposes such as answering research questions.
Your business contact information is collected to provide your hospital's survey answers and private individualized report, as well as to invite your participation in future mPINC surveys or other related opportunities. Your name, hospital name, and any other personal identifiers will not be included in either oral or written presentation of survey results. Responses will only be reported in summary form (≥5 hospitals) so individual responses cannot be identified. Business contact information (i.e., name and email address) will not be shared with health departments or other data requesters.
How can the public access mPINC data?
The public has access to the combined data in state, regional, and national reports available on this site.
Upon request, data with hospital identifiers (hospital name and address) may be shared under a data use agreement with state, tribal, and territorial health departments for the development of public health programs. Deidentified data may also be released under data use agreements for additional approved purposes such as answering research questions.Email mPINC@cdc.gov to learn more and to receive a data request form.
Why was the mPINC survey redesigned in 2018?
Maternity care practices and policies in the United States have changed since CDC administered the first mPINC survey in 2007. We redesigned the mPINC survey in 2018 to reflect these changes.
How do surveys from 2018 and later differ from previous years?
Changes to the mPINC survey beginning in 2018 include:
- Collecting data via the web only (no paper surveys).
- Surveying hospitals only (no freestanding birth centers).
- Updating survey content to reflect changing maternity care practices and policies.
Why aren’t freestanding birth centers included in the revised survey?
Much of the information requested on the survey is not applicable to birth center settings and instead focuses on hospital practices as almost 98% of births occur in hospitals.
Will hospitals be able to look at year-to-year trends?
We updated the mPINC survey questionnaire in 2018. Results from the mPINC surveys 2018 and later cannot be compared with results from 2007 to 2015 mPINC surveys. Multiple years of data from the updated survey (that is, 2018 and later) are comparable.
How can I keep up-to-date on the mPINC survey status?
CDC developed a CDC-mPINC-UPDATE listserv to inform hospitals and other partners about future mPINC surveys. We also use the listserv to provide periodic updates on the mPINC survey status and related information. Signing up for this listserv is voluntary, and most messages will be sent during mPINC data collection. Listserv participants may opt out at any time. If you have questions about the mPINC survey or want to sign up for the listserv, email mPINC@cdc.gov. Include your full name and email address. Your contact information will not be connected to survey responses or scores.