In a comprehensive epidemiological study conducted by a census survey in a population of 29,468 individuals in the Agra region of Uttar Pradesh, northern India, 261 cases of conversion symptoms in the form of hysterical fits were detected constituting a prevalence rate of 8.9 per thousand (Dube, 1970). The study population consisted of residents in urban, semi-rural and rural areas. The prevalence rate was significantly higher in urban than in rural areas. Females constituted 96.1% of all cases of hysteria. The highest incidence rate was in the age group 15–24 years. The role of caste, marital status and educational level, found to be associated with the occurrence of symptoms, has been discussed.

In a survey in Coventry of 1079 post-natal patients, 11% (104) of married women and 46% (32) of single women stated that this birth was unwanted and emotionally distressing. The married women with unwanted births were the same age as other married women, but had substantially larger families. The single women with unwanted births were younger and all had left school at 16 years or below. Ten per cent of married women and 28% of single women with unwanted births had no knowledge of contraception and 28% of married women and 78% of single women with unwanted births had not used any contraceptive methods. Seventy-six per cent of married women and 78% of single women with unwanted births would have liked further professional advice.

This paper introduces the concept of the ‘age-profile’, which represents the proportions of cohort populations surviving from birth to a given year. Life tables for Australia and three-dimensional diagrams based on these data are used to illustrate the difference between the ‘age-profile’ values for a given year and the transverse survival values for the same year. The last part of the paper describes areas in which the ‘age-profile’ might be used with reference to its value in representing the experience of cohorts.

Fertility in New Guinea highlanders was lower than in the Karkar coastal population. Karkar fertility has been reduced in younger women and this appears to be associated with increased educational opportunity. Polygamy is common in the Highlands but unusual on the coast. Fertility appeared to be unrelated to religious affiliation or employment status. Both communities had some knowledge of contraception, abortion and fertility promotion, and on Karkar there was a knowledge of the advantages of medical advice concerning family planning. Mortality levels in the two communities were comparable, from the mid-trimester of pregnancy through early childhood. The estimated life expectancies at birth are within the accepted range for other areas of New Guinea.

Family planning is not being practised in Wadi Turaba in western Saudi Arabia, which is a Bedouin community with different stages of settlement. Children are wanted in the family, and the more children, especially boys, the better the social status of the family in the community. The desire of a mother for more children does not appear to be affected by her age group, history of previous marriages or history of previous pregnancies.Knowledge about contraceptives practically does not exist, except on a small scale in the settled community. Every woman, following the Koranic teachings, weans her child exactly at the age of 2 years, which obviously leads to the spacing of births. In rather rare situations, coitus interruptus is practised.

A comparison was made between 1308 mothers delivered of twins in Aberdeen between 1950 and 1969 and mothers of singleton infants. There was a greater number of tall women amongst mothers of twins. This was more marked in primigravidae than in multiparae. The rate of twinning was less in thin women than in those who were obese or of normal build. The social class of the husband did not appear to influence the incidence of twins. The rate of weight gain in twin pregnancies, even in early pregnancy, was high compared with the rate in singleton pregnancies. The more frequent occurrence of twinning in heavier, taller women, suggests that nutrition might be responsible but this is not borne out by the findings about social class.

With the increasing interest in population dynamics, research workers with differing backgrounds, such as demographers, vital statisticians and members of the medical profession, find themselves on common ground. However, this interdisciplinary contact reveals that we sometimes use technical words in different ways, depending on the terminology of our profession. When a doctor speaks about fertility, it is synonymous with the Scandinavian word frugtbarhed whereas fertilitet for the demographer only refers to live-born. Medical research within the field of fertility usually deals with conceptions, i.e. live-births, still-births, legal abortions and other hospitalized abortions, including illegal and spontaneous abortions. There are also an unknown number of conceptions, such as non-hospitalized abortions, but it is now generally believed that, in Denmark, this figure is negligible (Hoffmeyer & Norgaard, 1964; Sele & Norgaard, 1972). Moreover, during the last three decades, contraception has become more and more widespread and this new variable, which influences both births and abortions, should also be considered. Bearing this in mind it would be appropriate to refine our terminology and use ‘manifest fertility’ for conceptions and ‘potential fertility’ for all biologically possible pregnancies.

The results of a comprehensive daily fertility clinic are presented for the years 1970–72, together with a 2-month schedule of investigation for the couples. Twenty-seven per cent had ovulation problems, 18% fallopian tube blockage or adhesions, 25% oligo- or aspermia and 27% were normal to investigation. The treatment of these conditions is discussed; the highest pregnancy rate was seen in those with no treatment (45%) indicating the use of reassurance after complete investigation.

The 1935 Criminal Law Amendment Act translated the Catholic Church's doctrine regarding contraception into the law of the land prohibiting the sale, importation and advertising of ‘unnatural methods’ of contraception.

Over the years, public opinion has changed and it has been estimated that over 20,000 Irish wives are taking the pill in spite of Humanae Vitae. Family planning clinics have been set up in Dublin.

In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in the McGee case that the ban on importation was unconstitutional and violated private rights.

Three private member's bills have been defeated and a Government bill to amend the 1935 Act is before the present session of the Dáil. It is a conservative measure seeking to restrict the importation and selling of contraceptives to licensed persons and making it an offence for unmarried persons to purchase them. It is probable that the bill will be defeated by Government members who regard it as too permissive and that the law will be further liberalized by more test-cases in the Courts.

The number of Northern Ireland women obtaining abortions in England has risen sharply from 36 for April–December 1968 to 775 in 1972. The figure for 1973 when it becomes available will probably be about 1000.

The sample on which this paper is based consisted of 522 women who between January 1971 and August 1973 sought an abortion through the Ulster Pregnancy Advisory Association. The sample amounted to about one-quarter of all residents of Northern Ireland obtaining an abortion in England over the same period and was therefore not a random one. It was, however, fully representative for age and marital status and was thought to be generally reliable.

The 522 women included 108 Roman Catholics, who were therefore under-represented in the sample compared with the general population at risk.

The 108 Roman Catholics included 72.2% of single women, compared with 65.1% of single Protestants; they were also younger, 42.6% coming with the age group 20–24 years compared with 33.4% of the Protestants, and a higher proportion, 46.3% compared with 30.9%, had stayed at school to the age of 17 or 18 years. Only 15.7% of the Catholics had been told of the UPAA by their own doctors, compared with 45.7% of the Protestants.