[Research in maternal and child health and in human reproduction]

This article stresses the importance of research in the field of maternal and child health because it can provide knowledge on which to base activities designed to change conditions, as required by the specific needs of the population. The authors review the characteristics of such research in Latin America and put forward a number of suggestions for promoting studies on maternal and child health, including priority areas, methodologies and analytical models, and specific research projects based on an overall approach to the situation concerned. Finally, they emphasize that research must focus on the priority problems of each country in the area of maternal and child health.