Letter of Support - NICHD

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Public Health Service
National Institutes of Health

Eun/r:c Kennedy Shriver National

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Institute of Child Health and
Human Development
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

NICHD, Population Dynamics Branch
November 14, 2017
Anjani Chandra, Ph.D.
NSFG Principal Investigator
Division of Vital Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics
3311 Toledo Road
Hyattsville, MO 20782
Dear Dr. Chandra:
I am pleased to provide information about how the NICHD plans to use the data that will be
collected in the upcoming rounds of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG).
Programming for the survey is an example of coordination across multiple components of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and we anticipate continuing to
provide funding for implementation of the NSFG into the future. This response primarily
reflects the interests of the NICHD Population Dynamics Branch (PDB); however, other branches
within the NICHD Division of Extramural Research also benefit from use of the NSFG data. For
example, the Contraception Research Branch uses data on the uptake and continued use of
various contraceptive methods and the Fertility and Infertility Branch uses data on the
prevalence of infertility and various methods of treatment. Because of the nationally
representative sample used by the NSFG, the NICHD Office of Health Equity and the
Gynecologic Health & Disease and Pregnancy & Perinatology Branches are able to fulfill their
mission in documenting disparities in reproductive and perinatal health outcomes by
socioeconomic status and race and ethnicity. Looking forward, staff from the NICHD's National
Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
are conducting an on-going conversation about the need for collaboration on nationwide data
about pregnancy among the U.S. population with disabilities. Because the NSFG includes the
DHHS standard questions on disability along with detailed information on fertility, this survey is
a key component of those discussions.
The PDB relies heavily on population-representative data from principal statistical agencies that
compose the U.S. federal statistical system to guide activities relevant to its mission: supporting
research on the scientific study of human populations, including fertility, nuptiality, family
demography, population growth and decline, and the causes and consequences of
demographic change, as well as supporting behavioral and social science research on sexually