Prepared as a resource for developing a 5-year plan of research for the years 1983-1987 by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, this report reviews current knowledge in three areas of perinatal medicine: pregnancy, birth, and the infant. Within each of these three general areas, several subtopics are discussed. These subtopics include various maternal disorders during pregnancy, fetal distress and hypoxic birth injury, and the respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants. The concluding section of the document offers recommendations for future research. (Author/RH)