This paper analyses the influence of maternal factors (mother's age, parity, prior birth interval, and subsequent birth interval) on mortality risk for 2150 Bangladeshi infants and children, taking the sex and age of the child into account. Logistic regression estimates from retrospective maternal birth histories for the period 1966–75 reveal age and sex patterns consistent with previous research. These estimates also demonstrate that there are associations with mother's age and parity, but that prior birth interval emerges as the strongest predictor of mortality risk. It appears that part of the mortality risk of mother's age and parity actually stems from association with shorter prior birth interval, a factor to which infant and child health programmes need to give more attention.