Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)
PRAMS is a joint research project between the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In our research project, we randomly select participants to survey to better understand their life experiences and attitudes before, during, and shortly following their pregnancy. Our purpose is to find out why some babies are born healthy, and others are not. We need your help to find out why.
As PRAMS is a collaborative research project with the CDC, PRAMS data is collected from mothers all over the nation, representing 81% of live births.
Figure: Testimonials from past PRAMS participants
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where do you get the names of the new participants selected for PRAMS?
We get all the information from the Indiana Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Vital Statistics. This is the office that produces your baby’s birth certificate.
- How can I tell my story to PRAMS?
Names are selected by chance, like a lottery, from the state birth certificate registry. Only a small number of moms will be chosen to participate in the study. When we receive your completed survey, we will send you a gift card as a token of our appreciation.
- What kind of information does PRAMS collect? Some of the questions do not seem to be about healthcare- why are they asked?
PRAMS collects data on the experiences and attitudes of moms before, during, and shortly following the pregnancy to understand not only the healthcare conditions, but environmental, societal, and other experiences as well. The mom’s experiences before, during, and after pregnancy can be so different and also dependent on a variety of factors. If we can collect data on the factors that could impact the life of the parent or the infant, then we should collect those to find out why some babies are born healthy and others aren’t, and how this data can help us address these differences.
- Will my answers be kept private?
Yes- all answers are kept completely private and will be grouped together to give us information on Indiana mothers and parents of new babies. There will not be any names shared.
- How can I help?
If you are chosen to be a PRAMS participant, you can help by completing the survey and telling your story. If you are not selected as a PRAMS participant and someone close to you has been randomly selected, encourage them to complete the survey to help other Hoosier parents and infants in the future.
- I was chosen as a PRAMS participant. How will my story help other Hoosiers?
Your story can positively impact future pregnancies and deliveries by sharing your experiences. Not only does the data collected from PRAMS provide evidence for future research, it can also inform IDOH to better support Hoosiers before, during, and after their pregnancies in responsive programming and supportive services.
Data Requests
Outside researchers may request data for studies depending on whether they want Indiana-specific data or national PRAMS data.
To request CDC PRAMS Data, please follow the link here to access the CDC website.
To request Indiana PRAMS Data, please contact us below.
*Indiana has not yet received weighted data. This should be considered to better use the data in a responsible way and generalizable for the population
