AllPRAMS.org

All PRAMS - A Collaborative

Rescuing our best source of scientific knowledge on US mothers and infants.

History / Mission

The Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS) is a state population-based survey that studies the experiences of mothers before, during and after delivery. The survey covers 83% of all live births in the US. For nearly 40 years the CDC sponsored PRAMS, which became the premier source of data on mothers and their babies.

In early March 2025, the new administration effectively ended the program by firing all the dedicated CDC scientists who ran it.

Our collaboration focuses on saving this important source of maternal and child health data, and rebuilding PRAMS for the future.

Phase 1: "All Hands on Deck"
Months 1 - 6

Goal 1: Restore Survey Operations

Situation: The CDC's system for survey collection was shut down without warning. Sites need help ASAP to implement data collection for 2025.

Solution: Identify 'triage' partners who can rapidly setup survey collection now; then plan for future years.

Needs:

Experienced survey protocol advisors,
Technical alternatives for data collection, and
Training of site staff.

Status: In progress.

Goal 2: Plan for 2024 Analytic Data

Situation: 2024 survey data was held by CDC; all expert staff to process data are gone. Most sites do not have expertise to clean and weight the raw data.

Solution: Develop support plan and budget for cleaning, weighting, packaging and publishing analytic data files for health research and policy.

Needs:

Statistical and survey methods expertise,
Cost estimation, and
Building ready teams for data processing.

Status: Completed.

Phase 2: "Navigate / Raise the Sails"
6 - 18 Months

Goal 3: Process and Publish 2024 Data

Situation: New technical and expert support requires funding. CDC support was already tight, but is now completely unreliable.

Solution: Identify MCH sponsors to fund immediate resource gaps in survey operations and data processing (next 6-12 months).

Needs:

Continue 2025 survey data collection by phone, web & mail.
Clean, weight, QA and package (up to) 50 research datasets from raw 2024 data.

Status: Upcoming.

Goal 4: Scale for the Future

Situation: The loss of CDC technical staff have severely challenged states who need guidance, a way to maintain standards, and inputs about survey protocol.

Possible Solutions: Launch a Collaboration Portal with technical library, model protocol, and sampling support. Build an online data query system for downloading deidentified multiyear, multisite research datasets.

Needs:

Build up state-level capacity for analysis and data processing.
Brainstorm/implement simple structure for decisionmaking and leadership.

Status: Early stages; brainstorming...

Phase 3: "New Horizons"
18 - 36 Months

Goal 5: Strengthen Partnerships and Dissemination; Showcase Evidence-Based Policies and Programs

Identify 'bridge' partners to help develop and implement an improved platform for ongoing public health MCH surveillance.
Establish steering committee and scientific advisory board to ensure quality, reliability, and historical integrity of data.
Re-engage with federal, state and philanthropic partners as appropriate to facilitate long term sustainability for PRAMS.

Questions?

Contact info -@- allprams -dot- org to learn more and join our collaborative.

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