PIP: Traditional maternal and child health beliefs were studied in approximately 45 households in each of 3 villages in East Java during 1976, using an openended questionnaire, a forced choice questionnaire, and a guided interview. Analyses of the reliability and validity of the data collected revealed that the instrument had a high degree of internal consistency and factorial validity. The 135 women interviewed had a mean educational level of 3.7 and an average age of 38.8, with 85% between 25 and 49. Average duration of marriage was 16.4 years. All had at least 1 living child. Data reveals that there was the expected negative correlation between educational level and high levels of traditional beliefs. The positive relationship between age of respondents and intensity of traditional belief requires no more explanation than that older women had been more intensively exposed to the traditional system. Little or no relationship was found between traditional beliefs and the number of living children or the number of children lost. A definite pattern of beliefs emerged relating to periods in the cycle of maternal and child health, with infancy being the period in which traditional beliefs remain persistently high. It is concluded that younger Javanese mothers held fewer traditional beliefs than the older generation and that the traditional belief system in these villages has been eroded in relation to pregnancy and early childhood. The major implications are that programs aimed at influencing behavioral changes relating to maternal and child health among women with children can focus particularly on beliefs related to infancy and vary the educational approach among the targeted age groups.