This study analyses infant health data from the 332 poorest rural U.S. counties for the period 1975-1985. The study updates and expands a report released in 1986. The data show that, until 1980, rates of infant mortality and low birthweights (LBW) improved significantly, especially in rural areas. The trend toward better prenatal care in rural poor counties was reversed between 1980 and 1984, with poor rural blacks being hardest hit. Rural poor counties experienced a steady increase in LBW rates between 1980 and 1985, with the 1985 figure nearly 30% higher than the national LBW rate. The infant mortality rate of rural poor counties that year was nearly 33% higher than the national rate. Had national rates prevailed in those counties, 4,000 to 6,000 fewer infant deaths would have occurred between 1975 and 1985. Pregnant women in rural poor counties also were more likely to receive inadequate prenatal care than pregnant women in other areas. The early 1980s also marked a period of increasing poverty and declining access to maternal and child health care and food assistance. Major funding cuts hit virtually all public assistance for the rural poor. Hardest hit by Medicaid eligibility changes were the working poor, largely in rural areas. The document recommends establishment of a federal rural maternal and infant health care initiative targeting poverty areas. It also suggests increasing education and research efforts to develop more efficient infant health care delivery and nutrition programs. The document contains numerous tables and graphs and 40 references. (TES)