The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) collects state-specific, population-based data on maternal attitudes and experiences before, during, and shortly after pregnancy in forty-six states. In Hawai’i , PRAMS is conducted by the Hawai’i State Department of Health, Family Health Services Division in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a combination of written and telephone surveys provided to new mothers to monitor maternal behaviors to determine how to reduce infant deaths, decrease low birth weights and improve the overall health of the population in Hawai’i. The 2020 PRAMS data includes 80 new health indicators with two years of data. Here are some highlights from the 2020 PRAMS:
- E-cigarette and other electronic nicotine product use during the 3 months before pregnancy has nearly doubled since 2016 (4.8% in 2016 to 9.2% in 2020).
- The percentage of mothers who received early and adequate prenatal care was significantly higher in Kauai County (85.4%) than all other counties (69.3% in Maui, 63.3% in Honolulu, 59.2% in Hawai’i).
- Second hand smoke exposure at home during pregnancy was significantly lower for mothers with a college degree (5.3%) than those with some college (25.1%), high school graduates (26.0%), or never attended school/had not finished high school (25.6%).
- The percentage of mothers receiving breastfeeding information from a lactation specialist was significantly higher in Honolulu County (82.9%) than all other counties (66.9% in Kauai, 52.1% in Hawai’i, and 46.2% in Maui).
- Most women (61.5%) had at least one health care visit in the 12 months before pregnancy but only 35.3% talked with their health care worker about improving their health before pregnancy during their visit.
