PRAMS Sampling

Each month, birth certificate information is used to generate a list of new mothers who delivered their babies from two to six months previously.  From this list, approximately 2,000 women a year are randomly selected (about one in forty mothers) based on race and ethnicity, and sent a letter informing them about PRAMS.  Women are sampled by race/ethnicity because some race/ethnic groups experience more pregnancy-related problems and this sampling strategy ensures that adequate data will be available to look at these differences.  A new group or “batch” of women is selected every month.  Women from each of the following racial/ethnic groups are asked to participate:  White not Hispanic, African American not Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander not Hispanic, Native American not Hispanic, and Hispanic.  Each year, after the surveys are completed, the data are weighted so that the results reflect the women who were Washington residents and gave birth that year.