International cooperation to collect obstetric data.

Reported are preliminary results of an international collection of data initiated by FIGO. Data of 33.000 deliveries in 19 countries, five countries each in South America, Africa, and Asia and four in Europe provided a good basis for comparison and called attention to shortcomings in each individual country and to the need for more progress in obstetric treatment. - Sociological and demographic items in a questionnaire bring into focus the importance of both family planning and sexual education. - The authors consider this data collection a preliminary study for modernisation of Tauffer Statistics.