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Abstract

The study clearly supports the argument that if parents are provided better facilities for education and health, they would certainly prefer to utilise these for MeR! leading to better chances of child survival. Educated mothers particularly have shown that given the resources at their control, their preference is certainly for better health care. This suggests that mothers when able to make independent decisions do emphasise child health care. The majority of the rural popUlation which is nearly 70 percent of the total popUlation have the highest child mortality. This may not only reflect maldistribution of trained manpower and other facilities, but may also be due to low levels of literacy, poor sanitation, low incomes and lack of access of relevant health facilities. The factors such as, post delivery maternal -care, prenatal care, postnatal care were also analysed and showed that child risks were substantially less particularly for urban educated mothers. Thus, the differential, in the urban vs rural health care can be reduced further by improving overall living conditions rather than further advances in medical care [Rohde (1983)]. The mortality transition that the developed countries experienced in the past was characterised by socio-economic progress [Palloni (1981)].