A comparative study has been made of Japanese and American maternal behaviour and infant development from birth to 3 months of age, especially in relation to infant feeding practices. The effect of cultural differences on the initiation and prolongation of breast-feeding is discussed and consideration is given to factors such as alertness of the mother during the birth, post-partum procedures in hospital, family sleeping arrangements and the general style of maternal care. The possibility of a post-partum “critical” period, and its effect on infant behaviour and development, is discussed.

This investigation was part of a longitudinal study of mental development of seventeen Jamaican children who were admitted to hospital with severe protein energy malnutrition. The children were compared with 20 adequately nourished children who were admitted to hospital for other reasons.

Previous research had shown that, 1 month after the children left hospital, both groups had similar scores on a modified Caldwell Inventory of Home Stimulation. When, in the present investigation, the inventory was repeated 24 months later, scores remained similar in both groups. When compared with data collected from a survey in a poor neighbourhood, again the scores of the neighbourhood children were similar to those of the malnourished group. The malnourished children were however living in poorer houses and had failed to catch up to the other groups in nutritional status.

Comparison of these findings with those from other countries suggests that the ecology of malnutrition differs in different cultures and that Jamaican mothers of malnourished children are characterized by poverty rather than poor maternal–child relationships.

It also appears that, at this age, poor levels of home stimulation were not a major factor in producing the deficit in development manifested by the malnourished group.

Although much research has been devoted to understanding differences in contraceptive behaviour among socieconomic groups of married women, little is known about group differences among young unmarried women. In this paper, data from a national survey of women 15–19 years of age are used to study the relationship between socioeconomic status, sexual activity, and contraceptive use. The socioeconomic status of the young women is related to age at first intercourse, contraceptive use at first intercourse, regularity of use, and use of medical methods. The results indicate that both an earlier initiation of sexual activity and less regular use of contraceptives in all probability lead to a concentration of pregnancies in the lower socioeconomic groups.

In a follow-up of males and females after voluntary surgical sterilization, the social characteristics of the applicants, their fertility and contraceptive history, their motivation, the indication for and mode of surgical contraception, the physical and psychological consequences of the operation, and the outcome of the selection and counselling procedures applied, were studied in a sample of 275 applications with a total of 540 subjects. The survey comprised the pre-operative examination, the first post-operative evaluation 4 months after surgery and the second after 12 months.

The main reasons for applying for sterilization were excess fertility due to contraceptive failures and side-effects of reversible contraceptive methods. Almost all of the patients were satisfied with the operation, one of the highest proportions reported so far. Nevertheless, many experienced a real adjustment period. Notwithstanding the careful pre-operative information and counselling, serious fears were often observed, and many found the operation more severe than expected. For the vast majority of the patients the operation had no influence on their family relations. The sexual relationship too was usually unchanged. If there were changes, the positive effects always exceeded the negative ones.

The high response to both the evaluations and the high proportions of satisfied individuals are in favour of the selection procedures and multidisciplinary counselling and follow-up practised.

Four special groups of women resident and obtaining abortions in one health district are described: women under 16 years and over 35 years, those undergoing a second or third abortion, and those obtaining operations later than 20 weeks gestation. These women rarely obtain adequate contraceptive advice and services, particularly when oral contraception has not proved to be suitable for them. It appears that some general practitioners do not offer a comprehensive family planning service and that this can result in women resorting to unreliable methods of birth control despite their demonstrated willingness to use contraception.

Among the very young, though most have received teaching about contraception, few appear to use any method; the confusion over the age of consent may be contributing to the failure of adults to make adequate provision for this group. The women over 35 years seemed to have little contact with family planning advice. There was a disturbing failure to meet the demand for sterilization until an unwanted pregnancy had occurred.

Patients undergoing a second or third abortion were frequently found to have contraceptive problems; there was no evidence that they were irresponsible as a group. A description of two patients obtaining operations after 20 weeks gestation illustrates the complexities of the late abortion issue. It is suggested that restrictive legislation cannot hope to contain the determination which may accompany the decision to seek abortion.

The authors compared 130 married abortion applicants with 100 married pregnant women who were attending the antenatal clinic. The abortion applicants were more likely to have had unhappy childhoods, broken homes, sexual pathology and more children. Their neuroticism scores on the Maudsley Personality Inventory were significantly higher. They tended to use either no contraception or unreliable methods. They were older and tended to report more socioeconomic problems. The characteristics of abortion applicants in this study seem to be similar to those reported from other countries.

A consecutive series of 1200 specimens of amniotic fluid obtained by amniocentesis from patients requesting antenatal diagnosis coming to a regional genetic advisory service is reviewed. The analysis identifies the conditions that most frequently come for antenatal diagnosis, picks out the conditions showing the highest frequency of affected fetuses on termination, and examines the success of the procedure as regards the accuracy of the genetic diagnosis and the ensuing normality of the pregnancy.

As part of a comparative analysis of uterine sibling groups to discover any evidence of ‘stopping rules’ related to actual preferences for children of one sex or another, the distribution of sequences of births by sex from a Ghanaian sample of 9392 mothers has been examined. No such rules can be detected.

From matched birth and census records in the Matlab area of Bangladesh, monthly fertility rates for the period 1970–74 are studied for seasonal patterns by age and parity. Trigonometric regression techniques are used to summarize and compare the multiple series. Pronounced seasonal patterns are apparent for all age and parity groups. The general fertility rate peaks in December with a seasonal variation of 42% above and below the mean level. For younger women at low parities the peak is in late October, while for older women of higher parity it is in January. The shift progresses linearly with age and parity though the age effect is the more pronounced. A seasonal pattern of fecundability which varies by age group could explain the shift.

Estimates from archaeological data of the numbers in the elite classes, non-elite occupational specialists, density of population, city size, and size of political units in the ancient Maya civilization suggest that there was a quantum shift in rate of development in the Early Classic period, associated with intensification of agriculture, and that the social structure approximated to a generalized feudal pattern.