The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), initiated in 1987 due to stagnant infant mortality rates, collects jurisdiction-specific, population-based data on maternal attitudes and experiences before, during, and shortly after pregnancy.

The survey asks new mothers questions

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about their pregnancy and their new baby and the data are used to monitor the prevalence of maternal behaviors and experiences to inform programs and systems changes that influence maternal and infant health, as well as conduct research.

PRAMS provides jurisdiction-specific and population-based data on the population of women recently delivering a live birth or stillborn infant.

Because less than 5% of the general population is pregnant at any time, there is a need for data that purposely samples from this population to provide stable estimates that can be stratified by population subgroup, as well as to provide jurisdiction-specific estimates of maternal experiences and behaviors that occur before, during, and shortly after pregnancy.

PRAMS data are used to examine the associations between risk factors and outcomes, explore disparities by subpopulations, and compare health indicators across jurisdictions.

For example, PRAMS data have been used to monitor progress over time for safe infant sleep practices, unintended births, and patterns of health insurance coverage.

PRAMS data are used to conduct research at the state and federal level and are used to investigate emerging issues in the field of reproductive health.

This NOFO solicits applications to:
1) implement standardized surveillance of postpartum women with a recent live birth or stillbirth on selected maternal behaviors and experiences that occur prior to, during, and shortly after pregnancy; 2) implement surveillance on emerging issues related to maternal and child health that arise during the data collection cycle including post-disaster or emergency surveillance; and 3) ensure collection of timely, high quality data for ongoing monitoring of maternal and infant health to inform programs, research, and system changes.

The activities in the NOFO will be conducted under three separate Components of funding:Component A:
Core Surveillance - To implement population-based surveillance on selected maternal behaviors and experiences that occur prior to, during, and shortly after pregnancy, including emerging issues, among women with a recent live birth in up to 53 vital records jurisdictions.Component B:
Point-in-time Tribal Surveillance - To implement a point-in-time (one time, one birth year) surveillance on selected maternal behaviors and experiences that occur prior to, during, and shortly after pregnancy among women with a recent live birth in up to 2 federally recognized American Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Villages, or Urban Indian Organizations (UIOs) with at least 1,000 live births annually or tribal organizations that support American Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Villages or Urban Indian Organizations with a service area that covers at least 1,000 live births annually.Component C:
Stillbirth Surveillance - To implement population-based surveillance on selected maternal behaviors and experiences that occur prior to, during, and shortly after pregnancy among women who recently experienced a stillbirth in up to 2 vital records jurisdictions.