Science
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Administration of local-regional anesthesia during norgnal deliveries was correlated significantly with newborn behaviors as evaluated by the Brazelton neonatal assessment scale. Three days after birth, infants whose mothers received local-regional anesthesia were more irritable and motorically less mature than those infants whose mothers were not medicated.
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A very large percentage of Mexico's population living in rural areas lacks resources for health care. Any new effort to provide such care must emphasize the health of the infant population because of the high percentage of infants in the country. Plans made at the national level have not been correlated with the conditions that exist in rural areas. ⋯ Other programs already being considered at the National Autonomous University of Mexico include the A36 plan of the Faculty of Medicine, now in operation; the work of C. Biro carried out in Netzahualcoyotl City (both focused on providing medical care to the urban poor); and the Open University program. Unless an efficient program designed to meet the needs of rural communities is quickly put into operation, Mexico will, in the near future, be facing the same problems now confronting Southeast Asia.