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BUREAU OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
BUREAU PROGRAMS
PUBLICATIONS
TRAINING & QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
QUICK LINKS
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Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)
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FAQ |
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PRAMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is PRAMS?
PRAMS (Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System) is a joint research project
between the Florida Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). Our purpose is to find out why some babies are born healthy
and others are not. To do this, our questionnaire asks new mothers questions
about their behaviors and experiences around the time of their pregnancy. Each
year in Florida there are hundreds of babies born with serious health problems.
Many of these babies die. We need your help to find out why. No matter how your
pregnancy went, your answers will help us learn more about ways to improve the
chances for future mothers and babies in Florida.
What is the Purpose of PRAMS?
The overall goal of PRAMS is to use information from new mothers to help improve
the experiences and health of babies and mothers before, during, and after
pregnancy and during the child's early infancy. PRAMS is designed to collect
data on selected maternal behaviors for planning and evaluating prenatal health
programs. PRAMS data is used to supplement state data from vital records and
allow comparisons among states to develop and assess programs and policies for
women and children.
Will my answers be kept private?
Yes - all answers are kept completely private to the extent permitted by law. All
answers given on the questionnaires will be grouped together to give us
information on Florida mothers of new babies. In reports from this survey, no
woman will be identified by name.
Is it really important that I answer these questions?
Yes! Because of the small number of mothers picked, it is important to have
everyone's answers. Every pregnancy is different. To get a better overall
picture of the health of mothers and babies in Florida, we need each mother
selected to answer the questions. From the information you give us, we may be
able to improve health care for women and children in Florida. We need to know
what went right as well as what went wrong during your pregnancy. Your help is
really important to the success of our program.
Some of the questions do not seem related to health care - why are they
asked?
Many things in a mother's life may affect her pregnancy. These questions try to
get the best picture of the new mother's health care and things that happened to
her during pregnancy.
Where Do You Get the Names of New Mothers?
We get all the information from the Florida Department of Health, Office of
Vital Records and Vital Statistics. This is the office that produces your baby's
birth certificate.
How was I chosen to participate in PRAMS?
Your name was picked by chance, like in a lottery, from the state birth
certificate registry. You are one of a small number of women who were chosen to
help us in this study.
Some of you ask to be taken off our list. Once you are picked by the computer,
we consider you to be very special because the information only you can give us
is so important. We need your help to create or change programs for women and
children.
How is the Information Collected?
Data collection follows the guidance from the United States Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Florida Department of Health randomly selects
approximately 2,500 new mothers and sends them a survey questionnaire 2-5 months
after giving birth. If there is no response from the mail survey, Department of
Health PRAMS staff may contact the new mothers by telephone and interview them.
The information from these survey respondents is processed to represent all
Florida new mothers.
Can you give me some examples of the findings from the PRAMS survey?
In 2010, 2,400 new moms were sampled for the survey in Florida. Of the 2,400 new
moms, 1,400 moms responded to the survey (response rate: 58.3%). Among these
newborns and their mothers:
- 45.6% were non-Hispanic white moms, 18.9% were non-Hispanic black moms, and 31.2% were Hispanics
- 31.1% of new moms were uninsured before getting pregnant
- 82.7% of new moms received Medicaid during pregnancy who were uninsured before pregnancy
- 58.2% of new moms participated in WIC during pregnancy
- 22.6% of new moms smoked cigarette 3 months before their pregnancy
- 49.1% of new moms had alcohol 3 months before their pregnancy
- 2.9% of new moms were physically abused by a husband or partner during pregnancy
- 88.7% of new moms had a blood test for HIV during their pregnancy
- 52% of moms had vaginal delivery and 47.9% had C-section deliveries
More reports on PRAMS data can be found on the Bureau of Epidemiology PRAMS Reports website:
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/epi/Chronic_Disease/Prams/Reports.htm
What if I want to ask more questions about PRAMS?
Please call us at our toll-free number 1-800-922-7475 and we will be happy to
answer any other questions that you may have about PRAMS. If you prefer to
complete the questionnaire over the telephone, please call us on the same
number. |
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This page was last modified on: 09/26/2012 10:19:29
