The Newborn Index is an independent research project collecting parent and caregiver experiences about decisions made in a child's first year. This page explains what we collect, why, and what we do — and don't — do with it.
When you submit a response, we may collect: your role (parent/guardian), name, email, or social handle (all optional), your state, race/ethnicity (optional), and detailed answers about your child's birth, hospital care, vaccines, circumcision, and related decisions, along with any written story you choose to share.
During submission, you choose how your story appears: private (visible only to the study's researchers), anonymous, first name only, full name, or by social handle. This setting controls anything that's ever shown publicly. You can change your mind — see "Your rights" below.
If you agree during submission, your responses may be included in de-identified, aggregate statistics — percentages and averages calculated across many respondents, with no way to trace a figure back to an individual. We may also use aggregate, de-identified data in future reports, research partnerships, or licensed summaries. We do not sell raw, individual-level data as part of this.
Responses are stored in a Supabase (PostgreSQL) database with row-level security enabled, meaning the public can submit data but cannot read other people's raw responses. Only the study's owner, logged in through an authenticated account, can view individual responses.
You can request that your response be corrected, removed from public display, or deleted entirely from our database. Contact us using the info below and include enough detail (such as the approximate date and details of your submission) for us to locate it — we don't require you to have shared identifying info to make this request, but it does help us find your record faster.
This study asks parents and caregivers about decisions made for their children — it does not knowingly collect information directly from children themselves. Respondents must be the parent, guardian, or caregiver submitting on their own behalf.
If this policy changes in a way that materially affects how your data is used, we'll update the date at the top of this page.
Questions or removal requests: reach out via the contact details provided on the site, or through the email associated with this project.