In an earlier report the American Medical Association's Committee on Maternal and Child Care analyzed some common interpretations of infant mortality rates as they relate to health levels.1The report concluded that comparing mortality statistics among nations with varying types of populations is not a reliable procedure. The various mortality rates are, at best, crude measurements and a product of many variables. The influence of these variables makes it imperative that extreme caution be exercised in drawing specific international comparisons from these rates. The Committee indicated, however, that these crude rates are useful for determining trends within specific geographic and cultural boundaries. These trends, when carefully analyzed and interpreted, are important indices for determining what has been done and what more can be accomplished. In the United States medical science has long been concerned with problems of infant mortality and has focused its efforts on various aspects of infant