Evaluation of Prevalence of Selected Maternal Behaviours and Experiences by Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)

Various maternal behaviours and experiences before, during, and after pregnancy such as unintended pregnancy, late entry into prenatal care, cigarette smoking etc are associated with adverse health outcomes for both the mother and the infant.Information regarding maternal behaviours and experiences is needed to monitor trends to enhance the understanding of the relations between behaviours and health outcomes, to plan and evaluate programs, to direct policy decisions, and to monitor progress toward healthy people. The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is an ongoing, state- and population-based surveillance system designed to monitor selected self-reported maternal behaviours and experiences that occur before, during, and after pregnancy among women who deliver a live-born infant. PRAMS provides state-specific data for planning and assessing health programs and for describing maternal experiences that may contribute to maternal and infant health.As per the surveillance data, the prevalence of unintended pregnancy resulting in a live birth ranged from 33.7% to 52% across the 17 states in US. The prevalence of late or no entry into prenatal care ranged from 16.1% to 29.9%. The prevalence of smoking during the last 3 months of pregnancy ranged from 6.2% to 27.2%. Overall, smoking during the last 3 months of pregnancy was associated with younger age (<25 years). The prevalence of physical abuse by a husband or partner during pregnancy ranged from 2.1% to 6.3% whereas for breast-feeding initiation ranged from 48% to 89%.