Support Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Data Collection
Below is an excerpt from a public comment submitted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in regard to the regulation "Support Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Data Collection" on December 5, 2025.
My name is Craig F. Garfield, MD, MAPP, and I am a pediatrician and researcher focused on perinatal health, family systems, and the transition to parenthood. My work spans both maternal and paternal health and how early family experiences influence child outcomes. I am commenting because Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data are essential to understanding perinatal health in the United States of mothers. At the same time, there is a critical opportunity to strengthen the system by formally including fathers.
CDC seeks input on whether continued PRAMS data collection is necessary and useful. It absolutely is–and PRAMS has been the envy of public health surveillance around the world, with many countries trying to emulate PRAMS. PRAMS captures population-based, jurisdiction-specific information about experiences before, during, and after pregnancy—information not available in vital records or administrative data. These data uniquely guide public health programs, grants, policy, and resource allocation. There is nothing like this and it is not a duplication but a unique resource.