The extent to which it is possible to recognize distinctive patterns of marriage and fertility within sub-groups of the rural population is examined by an analysis of the fertility experience of 294 females who lived in a single village in southern Normandy at some period between 1901 and 1975. Aggregate analysis demonstrates the existence of differential fertility between classes. Examination of circumstantial evidence for individual sub-groups suggests that attitudes towards capital accumulation and inheritance are the major explanatory factors for these differentials.

The evolution of the inbreeding coefficient estimated by the isonymic method is studied in a rural canton of mid-France, using data divided into 10-year intervals of 6277 marriages recorded in the civil registers between 1870 and 1979. The results show a strong diminution of the values of F from 1930 onwards, probably related to the drop in population due to exodus from rural areas. The evolution of the inbreeding coefficient observed in three large occupational groups (farmers, craftsmen and labourers) shows that after 1930 it was only the farmers who maintained the low positive values of F. The coefficient of genetic relationships by isonymy (Ri) calculated among the principal occupational groups shows their community of origin, which is still perceptible today.

A retrospective study has been undertaken among 5108 women of the delay in conception after stopping different methods of contraception. Particular attention was paid to the delay that sometimes separates the cessation of contraception and the beginning of intercourse without precautions and to the effect of possible confounding factors.

It was possible to demonstrate a decreased fertility for couples after the pill and, to a lesser degree, after IUD use, but only among those who did not take other precautions (waiting period). For couples observing a waiting period, there is no decrease of fertility following the initial exposure to the risk of conception.

The different prevalence of these confounding factors from one population to another can explain the various results reported of other studies.

Fifty-seven women (mean age = 23·5 years), half of whom used an oral contraceptive, completed Moos' menstrual distress questionnaire at each of the three menstrual phases. In addition they kept menstrual diary cards for 50 days, recording days on which menstrual blood loss occurred. During an intermenstrual phase, they completed: a general information questionnaire with questions on menstrual, socialization and demographic variables; Eysenck's personality inventory; the multidimensional health locus of control scale; the Bern sex role inventory; and a measure of preventive health behaviour. Analyses investigating the effects of pill use and psychological factors on the incidence and intensity of menstrual distress found few significant associations between these measures, especially when symptom changes over the menstrual cycle were the dependent variables. The implications of these results for the aetiology of menstrual distress are discussed.

Data collected as part of the World Fertility Survey programme in the mid-1970s in four Muslim populations (Bangladesh, Java (Indonesia), Jordan and Pakistan) show that the demographic variables age at first marriage, duration of marriage, status of first marriage and experience of child loss explain most of the variations in fertility among these populations. There was no consistent pattern which could explain fertility differentials by selected socioeconomic variables. Fertility differentials by wife–husband education and childhood–current residence were found not to be in the expected direction in most of the populations. Fertility transition has not yet started among the majority of the people in these populations.

Surveys carried out in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1963 and 1980 showed that most women have some knowledge of contraception. The proportion who had ever used contraception rose from 7% of respondents in 1963 to 48% in 1980. The rate of current use in 1980 was 34%. Highest rates of use were found among women aged 30 years or older and among those of higher education and socioeconomic status. The most commonly used methods of family planning were the condom, the pill and abstinence.

Between 1981 and 1982 the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists undertook a national survey of late abortion practice in England and Wales. The study was based on a confidential enquiry, specifically authorized by the Chief Medical Officers of the DHSS and the Welsh Office, which used the notification system as the means of identifying cases. All abortions notified as carried out at 20 weeks gestational age or more were selected during the year, together with varying proportions of cases from other gestational groups. Data on avoidable and unavoidable causes of delay were obtained by questionnaire from notifying doctors, and a comparison was made of the subjectively attributed delay with any that was found through objective measures derived from both questionnaire and notification data. This paper presents results on delay associated specifically with abortions carried out at a gestational age of 20 weeks or more to residents of the United Kingdom only.

This paper examines secular changes in the influence of maternal age, parity and social class on perinatal mortality in Scotland. Despite changes in reproductive behaviour, improved access to maternity services and more effective perinatal care, the influence of maternal age and social class on perinatal mortality remained unchanged between 1960 and 1982. Although there were no significant changes in the traditional J-shaped association between parity and stillbirths, cross-sectional analysis shows that in the early 1980s the risk of both neonatal and perinatal deaths decreased as parity increased: this finding is consistent with the pattern of risks observed in longitudinal studies and retrospective surveys of reproductive histories. The stability of age, parity and social class effects thus suggests that little if any of the overall decrease in Scottish perinatal mortality can be attributed to a significant narrowing of relative risks in the obstetric population.

Data from reproductive histories collected in the Population, Labour Force and Migration Survey of 1979 are used to analyse trends and differentials in infant and child mortality in Pakistan. Comparisons with the Pakistan Fertility Survey findings are also presented. Whereas levels differ substantially across the two surveys, trends and differentials are generally similar. Infant–child mortality seems to have declined until the mid-1960s, stabilized for some years and even risen slightly in the latest period of the two surveys.

Neonatal mortality is responsible for a high proportion of deaths under age 1 and is particularly high for first order births and children born to very young or very old mothers. Higher infant and childhood mortality are also related to these factors and also to a shorter preceding birth interval, the early death of the preceding child and sex of the child. Education of mother and residence were also found to be critical determinants of infant and child mortality.

Visual acuity was tested and the anterior portion of the eye inspected among the Gidra in Lowland Papua New Guinea, who depend on hunting for their animal food. The visual acuity of the youths and adults was as high as that of hunters and gatherers; 88% of the males and 81% of the females had an acuity of 1·2 or better. The elders had far lower acuity, correlated with the advance of cataract (or corneal opacity). The senescent visual acuity is discussed in relation to little practice and low productivity of the elders' hunting, and to the Gidra traditional age-grade system.