The importance of breast feeding in infant nutrition, health and survival has long been recognized. The recognition that lactation may have profound effects on maternal nutrition and fertility is of more recent origin.

We talk about ecological balance. It is important that all the elements in nature be well balanced. A slight tilt in the balance and the living world would have to pay dearly; Scientists caution! Encroachment of man on nature ultimately would cost him too much.

Ethics is an important yet neglected issue in the field of medicine. When discussed, it provokes controversy. In the West we find conscious and continuous debate on this subject. Ethics is not a forbidden word there nor are

Squinting against the glare of the harsh fluorescent lights, a balding, middle aged man wearing a checked shirt and a worried look sat at the edge of the plastic chair in the white-tiled corridor of Bombay's Jaslok Hospital, tapping his foot on the floor with increasing nervousness.

Population projections help in the formulation of policies directed towards meeting desired goals. Such projections cannot be considered as a one time event as new directions for policies and programs can emerge when the exercise is repeated.

Though fertility is a biological phenomenon there are a number of other factors influencing the levels and differentials of fertility among tribals.

Demographic literature is replete with observations of an inverse relation between certain attributes of modernity and family size (Thompson 1929; Notestein 1945; Coale and Hoover 1958; Leiberman 1980, Srinivasan 1986).

Modem means of fertility control have made inroads into Mogra in recent times. Since these means were introduced mainly under the national Family Planning Programme (FPP), this chapter focuses on people's response to it. How did FPP find its way into the village? What do people think about it?

Fertility behaviour includes not only biological but also social reproduction, involving a complex network of institutions.