Opinion: Data disruptions put powerful maternal and child health tool at risk
Actions by the Trump administration have disrupted the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), a longstanding program that collects population-level data on maternal and infant health. In a July 23 JAMA Health Forum perspective piece, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Sara Bleich and co-authors argued that these moves have put at risk a powerful tool for tracking trends, identifying inequities, and evaluating the effectiveness of policies and interventions—with the heaviest burden of this information gap falling on already-vulnerable populations.
For nearly 40 years, U.S. cities, states, and territories have collected information from recently pregnant women about their behaviors and experiences for PRAMS, with support and technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2025, the Trump administration shut down the national PRAMS data collection system, removed historical data from public access, and placed the CDC staff responsible for managing the program on administrative leave. Although funding has resumed, gaps in data, staffing losses, and interruptions in state participation threaten the program’s effectiveness.
“If the disruptions continue, or if PRAMS were ultimately discontinued, policymakers, researchers, and advocates will be flying blind, with no comparable dataset to guide responses to the ongoing maternal and infant mortality crisis or future public health threats,” Bleich, professor of public health policy, and her co-authors wrote.
Read the JAMA Forum perspective piece: Losing Our Lens on Maternal and Infant Health—The Consequences of Disrupting PRAMS
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Mothers, infants in Mississippi at health risk due to lost data (Harvard Chan School news)
