Forbes, Thais R. December,1993. - BIOCULTURALLY INFORMED HEALTH PROMOTION IN RURAL JAMAICA Abstract: This research was conducted to learn the perceptions of primiparas (first time, mothers-to-be) in rural Jamaica concerning their: (1) prenatal health care, (2) pregnancies and, (3) ideas about how they intended to care for their infants (e.g., infant feeding plans). Data collected through interviews with prenatal clients supported the relevance of implementing bioculturally informed health promotion strategies. Ideally, such strategies synthesize folk beliefs (emic information) and cosmopolitan biomedical beliefs for the purpose of better satisfying clients' health concerns. Clients' beliefs and attitudes about their own and their children's health status can be used to guide health education interventions, especially to address the adolescent primipara's life situations. This research, grounded in an ecosystemic approach (considering environmental, social and biological factors)l suggests that chronic maternal/young child morbidity may be reduced through existing interventions. One such intervention is the Family Life Education Curriculum, which provides prepubescents with family health and reproductive information in Jamaican primary schools.