Family and Child Health Innovations Program at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Fathers play an important role in the health of mothers and infants. While the CDC’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment System (PRAMS) has monitored maternal health for over 35 years, no such monitoring exists during the transition to fatherhood. To fill this gap, the State Fatherhood Surveys project, led by the Family & Child Health Innovations Program at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, uses validated survey methodology and tools to: give voice to fatherhood experiences through validated, representative public health data collection; fill gaps in knowledge concerning the lived experiences and needs of fathers; and focus on paternal health, attitudes, behaviors and influences and their impacts on maternal and child health during the perinatal period.