The International Planned Parenthood Federation was founded in 1952. In that year the Republic of Ireland hinted at resignation from the World Health Organization if WHO were to involve itself in family planning activities (Symonds & Carder, 1973). In 1973, as the IPPF marks its 21st Anniversary, a ban on the import of contraceptives has been upheld by the Irish courts after a mother of four appealed for help to prevent another pregnancy for health reasons. In October this year the Family Planning Association of Ireland will probably become the 80th member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

One hundred and fifty-two women who failed to keep appointments for discussion or fitting of an IUD at a hospital clinic have been studied. Home visits were made by a social worker in an attempt to encourage the women to accept a new appointment, or make alternative plans for birth control. At the end of the study, 31 women had been fitted with an IUD, 16 had had a tubal tie, and 46 were successfully using other methods of contraception. The eventual acceptance of an IUD was found to be related to the reasons given by the women for not keeping the missed appointment.

This analysis was planned to produce an estimate of the effects of maternal ageing on the risk of stillbirth which would not be confounded by other biological and socio-economic factors. The basic comparison is between late fetal death ratios in second and third births for all women who experienced third single births in California in 1968. The analysis leads to the conclusion that women who experience late fetal deaths initiate more subsequent pregnancies and after shorter intervals than do women who have live births. A sharply lower risk of late fetal death for third birth than for second was found to mask age effects. It is suggested that this reduction in risk reflects the effects of successful diagnosis and treatment of conditions which produce high rates of pregnancy loss.

A controlled comparison study was completed using interview data from 80 women each experiencing their first pregnancy whilst single. Half of the women continued their pregnancy, in some cases marrying the father. The other half obtained an abortion. Two interviewers, one male and the other female, each completed an equal number of interviews with both groups of women.

The women selected for the study had the following traits: (1) never married before this, their first conception; (2) aged 17–30 years; (3) white ethnic status; (4) had not delivered or terminated the pregnancy at the time of the interview. The sample consisted of volunteers from the ante-natal and gynaecology clinics at St Mary's Hospital Medical School and Samaritan Hospital for Women, London, W.2, and Kingston and Richmond Hospitals, Surrey.

Almost all topics examined in the pre-conception period turned out to be characteristic of women experiencing their first illegitimate conception, whether or not they continued the pregnancy. A detailed examination of contraceptive background revealed no significant differences between the two groups of women, with two exceptions. Women having abortions were more likely, at the time before they conceived, to have accepted the idea of using contraception. A small number of these women were also more likely to have made an effort to obtain a clinical contraceptive device.

The only other pre-conception factor found to be associated with abortion involved the relationship with the father up to the time of conception. If that relationship was uncertain, less meaningful than previous ones, or a social rather than a romantic one, the woman was more likely to terminate the pregnancy.

In contrast to the pre-conception period, almost all analyses of events subsequent to conception revealed differences between the two groups of women. Both concern over being discredited by other people and concealing information about the pregnancy were traits associated with having an abortion, but in a qualitative rather than an absolute sense. These aspects of social stigma were common to all women before the first pregnancy test, but became more evident amongst women having abortions once the pregnancy had been clinically confirmed. Both concern over being discredited and concealing the pregnancy were experienced in relation to particular persons. For women terminating their pregnancies these were usually their parents.

The degree of acceptability of abortion and unmarried motherhood differed between the groups, but they were similar in their views on the acceptability of marriage with pregnancy and adoption. These four alternatives were further examined in terms of the women's preferences and here the two groups differed.

Finally, there were differences between the groups in the effect of the pregnancy on the relationship with the putative father. Women having abortions were more likely to find themselves in a relationship that had either finished or was likely to finish after the father knew of the pregnancy. Some were pregnant by a social acquaintance which precluded either marriage or joint parenthood.

The findings are discussed in terms of the relationship between contraception and abortion for the single woman and consideration is given to the implications for fertility research and contraceptive and pregnancy services.

This paper describes the first study of vasectomized men in Latin America; it is based on personal interviews with 172 men who had undergone the operation at least 3 months previously.

The majority of the men chose to have the operation relatively late in life (38·9 years), after they had had a large number of children (5·9 living). Men from all education and occupation levels were represented in the sample; about 25% were practising Catholics. Many cited the effectiveness of vasectomy as a major factor in their decision. More than one-half reported at least one failure with other methods. Principal original sources of information about vasectomy for the majority were the mass media. Most reported that their sexual activity had remained unchanged or had improved since the operation and expressed satisfaction with the results of the operation.

(Summary in Spanish, p. 505.)

There is a great deal of interest in the relation between the status of women and fertility—by humanists, academics and policy-makers concerned with bringing about fertility declines. The three aspects of women's status most frequently linked to fertility are their education, employment and type of husband-wife interaction. Research to date has not given us a clear and consistent explanation of these relationships and has not confirmed causality. The effects of these three factors on fertility vary considerably across national boundaries and even within different sectors of the same society. Some of the assumptions held by both researchers and policymakers must be re-thought in the interests of more useful future research and of sounder policy.

Literature on the subject of the menopause, primarily from the past three decades, is selectively reviewed in the form of an annotated bibliography. In order to highlight particular methodological problems, the review is presented in three sections, each preceded by a brief discussion, as follows: (a) the general report of clinical observation or experience, (b) the survey, and (c) the clinical trial. Several recommendations are also made for further research in this field.