ABSTRACT
Specialists in various fields have been devoting considerable attention to studying the factors which impede the birth of the desired number of children in families. An analysis of the findings of several studies reveals that among the reasons noted by women, along with material and housing conditions, were others, such as the difficulty of raising children of preschool age and the difficulty of combining participation in social production with maternal functions. Women's desire to care for infants only during the first year was also noted in the research by V. N. Shcherbakov. According to his findings 60% of the working women in Moscow and 40% in Kaluga went back to work one year after the baby's birth. Preventive medical observation of infants during the first year of life, in conjunction with primary maternal care of infants, must be strengthened, both by the family and by medical institutions.
