Maternal and Child Health in Rural Kenya (1984) is based on a longitudinal, multi-disciplinary, population-based research study in the Machakos district, a rural area of Kenya. The purposes of the project were to obtain accurate data on morbidity and mortality from a number of acute infectious childhood diseases and on the outcome of pregnancy; to investigate nutritional factors and those of the social, biological and physical environment which may have a bearing on the observed disease pattern; and to develop a system of registration for births, deaths and morbidity suitable for use in an area of limited resources. Data for this study was collected over a seven-year period and the book has major implications for those concerned with health care in less-developed countries.