PIP: India's maternal mortality rate has declined to some extent during the past 25 years as a result of the improvements in health services. However, death rates associated with pregnancy and childbearing continue to be very high as compared with the developed countries of the West. The maternal death rate was reported to be 376.3/100,000 live births during 1971. India is 1 of the very few counries in the world in which women have a shorter life span than men. The single major factor contributing to this situation may be the strain of excessive childbearing to which Indian women are exposed. The optimal age for bearing children is between 20-30 years, and a woman needs 2-3 years between births to recover from 1 pregnancy and prepare for another. The shorter this interval, the greater the risk of death for both mother and child. Even good nutrition and medical care and optimal childbearing age and low parity cannot compensate for the health hazards of pregnancy if spaced less than 2 years apart. The likelihood of women dying from the 1st pregnancy or childbirth is slightly higher than from the 2nd or 3rd birth. It then gradually rises with each subsequent pregnancy until the 5th after which there is even more marked increase. The Government Health Organization has established a network of institutions to provide health care for mothers and children. Routine health supervision is given to mothers to ensure that the pregnancy is proceedings normally and to identify special problems at the earliest possible time and institute appropriate treatment. The Family Planning Program also runs schemes for preventing nutrition deficiency diseases among children. In addition to taking measures for promoting health and preventing disease, the government has also developed children's hospitals and children's units in general hospitals under specialists and pediatricians to provide good medical care to sick children.