# Wisconsin Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Systems (PRAMS): Understanding Racial Disparities

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES · 2022 · $160,020

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Division of Public Health (DPH) is
applying to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the Pregnancy Risk
Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) Funding Opportunity Announcement Number: RFP-
DP-21-001, U01, Component A: Core Funding. PRAMS is an ongoing survey, conducted by the
CDC and state health departments, of mothers who recently had a live birth. PRAMS is an
essential tool in maternal and child health program and policy development, monitoring, and
evaluation and is a key source of information on disparities in birth outcomes and their risk
factors. This fourth cycle of funding will allow Wisconsin PRAMS to continue and meet the
objectives below and investigate Wisconsin’s racial and ethnic disparities during the project
period May 1, 2021 – April 30, 2026.
The objectives of Wisconsin PRAMS are as follows: (1) to understand better how behaviors,
attitudes, and experiences before, during, and immediately after pregnancy relate to and
influence racial inequities in maternal and infant outcomes; (2) to collect population-based data
of high quality not found in other data sources; and (3) to translate results into information for
planning and evaluating public health programs and policy. Wisconsin PRAMS conducts a
survey of a random sample of mothers (stratified by race/ethnicity) who have had a recent live
birth. The survey asks about maternal experiences and perspectives related to their social and
economic conditions, health behaviors, health conditions, and health care before, during, and
shortly after pregnancy. The first funding cycle, 2006 – 2011, was primarily focused on the
design of operating procedures, research, and protocol, including the sample methodology. The
second and third cycles, 2011 – 2016 and 2016-2021, respectively, focused on maintaining data
collection procedures and improving response rates, expanding the non-Hispanic black
oversample and conducting a census sample of Native women in Wisconsin, to enhance our
ability to investigate disparities. The second and third cycles also saw increased dissemination
of data for program planning both to local partners and to national stakeholders. Results from
the PRAMS survey provided compelling, stark, and unique evidence of major racial and ethnic
disparities in social determinants of health, preconception health, health behaviors, pregnancy
intention, stress, postpartum depression, and safe sleep practices.
In this third cycle, 2016 – 2021, WI PRAMS will focus on deepening and consolidating
relationships with key partners, including Wisconsin’s Tribal nations and community health
workers, to leverage PRAMS data for improved program and policy planning. PRAMS data will
be key to the development of the priorities and strategies of the new Infant and Maternal
Mortality Prevention program, created by Governor Evers in the last state biennial budget. WI
PRAMS will also explore innovative data...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10380558
- **Project number:** 5U01DP006598-02
- **Recipient organization:** WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES
- **Principal Investigator:** Fiona Weeks
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $160,020
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10380558

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10380558, Wisconsin Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Systems (PRAMS): Understanding Racial Disparities (5U01DP006598-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10380558. Licensed CC0.

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