This report contains data and information on the School-Based Health Centers affiliated with the Office of Public Health Adolescent School Health Initiative for the 2020-21 school year.

The Louisiana Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is a population-based survey of women who deliver a live-born infant within a given calendar year. The 2020 Louisiana PRAMS Data Report, a compilation of Louisiana PRAMS results for selected indicators, highlights data for births occurring in 2020. In 2020, there were 55,666 live births that satisfied the Louisiana PRAMS inclusion criteria, of which 1,237 were sampled. Of this sample, there were 698 respondents, resulting in a 57 percent overall weighted response rate.

Highlights from this edition:

• Louisiana PRAMS participated in the COVID-19 Supplement in conjunction with CDC PRAMS as part of a national evaluation of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted pregnancy. Six months of data from the COVID-19 Supplement were included in the 2020 data.
• In 2020, Louisiana PRAMS included additional survey questions regarding maternal disability.
• 17.5% of PRAMS respondents reported not initiating prenatal healthcare as early as desired because they “didn’t have enough money or insurance.”
• 34.3% of respondents reported working jobs that did not offer paid maternity leave.
• 67.8% of respondents received breastfeeding resources through family or friends.
• 58.7% of respondents reported that their birthing hospital “provided information about how to protect [their] baby from COVID-19 after discharge.”

Louisiana PRAMS data can be used by program planners, health care providers, policy makers, and public health leaders to design, implement, and evaluate programs and services for women and infants in Louisiana.

Click here to view the full report.

This checklist is intended to be used by public health professionals to guide the development of data communication materials and assist with addressing equity related to race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, etc. It should be used in conjunction with the Health Equity Communications Checklist if data are being presented or visualized. It is common public health practice to stratify health outcome data by race and/or other identifying factors to illustrate disparities between groups. However, an unintentional consequence is the blame placed on certain races, ages, or groups of people represented in these data. Data presentation has the power to either engage or alienate communities, as it can en-courage audiences to focus on individual behaviors, as opposed to systematic issues. It is vital to display data in the most responsible, reflective and representative way. Our goal is to present data in a context that illuminates the social determinants of health and structural variables that contribute to the disparity in poor health outcomes. The focus of the data should be to highlight the root causes of systemic issues leading to health challenges.

This report provides information on initiatives authorized by the Commission that focus on reducing maternal and infant deaths, including the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative (LaPQC) and the Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review (PAMR). Legislative and policy priorities considered by the Commission are also identified in the report. One highlight is that legislation was passed in 2019 that authorizes the Louisiana Department of Health to promulgate and publish rules and regulations for the licensing of free-standing birth centers.