PRAMS: Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Survey Data

31 U.S. states and 1 city collect data on maternal attitudes, behaviors, and experiences before, during, and after pregnancy. The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is a joint project between the CDC and state health departments, surveying between 1,300 and 3,400 women per state annually since 1987. Surveillance reports are available for years including 1995-2000, 2002, and 2007.

Use Cases

• Modeling risk factors for postpartum depression based on survey responses about maternal experiences.
• Analyzing trends in breastfeeding initiation and duration based on state-specific survey data.
• Investigating correlations between prenatal care access and birth weight outcomes.
• Comparing rates of unintended pregnancy across different geographic regions.

Strengths

• Data collection spans over 30 years, beginning in 1987.
• Includes state-specific information from 31 states and 1 city, allowing for cross-state comparisons.
• Annual sample size per state typically ranges from 1,300 to 3,400 women.

Limitations

• The most recent full year of available data is 2007, indicating the dataset is not current.
• Access to the full dataset requires submitting a proposal, which adds a barrier to immediate use.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments.

Collection Method

Annual surveys of women who have recently had a live birth.

Time Range

1987 onward, with surveillance reports available for specific years including 1995-2000, 2002, and 2007.

Freshness

The most recent full year of available data is 2007.

Geography

31 U.S. states and 1 city.