Abstract. Extensive research based on national surveys and censuses conducted in developing countries shows maternal schooling to be a very strong and consistent predictor of reduced child mortality and morbidity. A deeper understanding calls for an investigation of how maternal schooling affects women’s health-seeking behavior. It can be argued that this relationship is not simply a reflection of a co-occurrence of education with other socioeconomic variables. Using data from the National Family Health Survey 1992–93, we examine the relationship between maternal schooling and factors known to reduce the risks of maternal and child mortality, namely, healthcare practices, for some selected northern and southern states in India. We hypothesize that the practices of educated women are quite different from those of uneducated women with regard to pregnancy, childbirth, immunization, and management of childhood diseases such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection (ARI). However, there exist a number of confounding factors such as socioeconomic status that are associated with the study of the impact of maternal education on health-care utilization. The hypothesis that the relationship between mother’s education and healthcare practices might be the result of other variables is tested, and regression analysis on several of these variables is carried out. It is evident that a higher level of maternal education results in improved child survival because health services that effectively prevent fatal childhood diseases are used to a greater extent by mothers with higher education than by those with little or no education. We conclude that the benefits of maternal education persist even when other socioeconomic factors are taken into account.