The Philadelphia Infant Mortality Review has interviewed 106 women who have experienced an infant death. The survey instrument for the maternal interview employs both forced choice and openended methodologies. Analysis of the forced choice responses regarding maternal perception indicate that of these bereaved mothers 38% felt alone or like no one cared about them, 18% reported being concerned for their personal safety, 11% reported exposure to violence, 62% were satisfied with the condition of their house or apartment, 27% reported lack of money as a problem, 21% were upset by this pregnancy and 15% reported being dissatisfied with their medical care. When more factual questions were asked regarding social support, violence and housing conditions the number of inadequacies and exposures increased. For example 70% of these women reported going to the hospital alone when in labor with this pregnancy. Analysis of the open-ended responses reveal that these women significantly underreport exposure to violence, inadequacies in housing, social isolation, financial hardship, dissatisfaction with medical services and pregnancy wantedness. The relative advantages and disadvantages of these methodologies and their impact on interpretation of data will be discussed.