While it is laudable that the Indian government has made the effort to initiate a holistic reproductive health programme, its failure to address issues of sexuality that arise in this context is puzzling.

The high female infant mortality rates (Miller, 1985); the practice of female infanticide (Krishnaswamy, 1988); the neglect of female children with regard to access to health services, nutrition, (Sen and Sengupta, 1983 and education (Mankekar, 1985); and the sexual abuse of girls (Bhalerao, 1985

We use data from the 1981 and 1991 censuses of India to examine (a) sex ratios among infants aged under 2, (b) child mortality (q5) by sex, and (c) estimated period sex ratios at birth (SRB) calculated by reverse survival methods, to see whether bias against female children pers

Breast-feeding is the proud privilege of every mother. It gives her an opportunity to fondle her little one with tender care and looks forward to his growth and development with high expectations.

Women use images of earthen pots breaking, flowers or fruits falling, to symbolize the loss of pregnancy. kachha ghada phoota (UP Rajasthan), phool jhade ( Madhya Pradesh), kaacho padi gayo (Rajasthan), garbha-alasyam (Kerala) are some of the terms used to describe miscarriages.

Medical and public health experts advocate breastfeeding as the best method of feeding young infants for a wide variety of reasons.

India can take legitimate pride that it was one of the earliest nations to introduce a population policy, yet fertility control remains a most contentious problem of electoral politics of India in the 1990s.

The practice of breast-feeding is almost universal in India. Protecting, promoting and supporting breast-feed in should be the foremost aim of all the communities. Compare the body of a lactating mother to a baby food factory and we find that she is far and away the most efficient [1].