**Exhibit
            31.1**
 
 
 **Certification
            Pursuant to**
 **Rule
            13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a),**
 **as
            Adopted Pursuant to**
 **Section
            302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002**
  I,
            Parker
            H. Petit, certify that:
  1.
                I
                    have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Matria Healthcare,
                    Inc.; 
 2.
                Based
                    on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
                    of a
                    material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
                    the
                    statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
                    statements
                    were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered
                    by this
                    report; 
 3.
                Based
                    on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
                    information
                    included in this report, fairly present in all material respects
                    the
                    financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
                    the
                    registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
                    report; 
 4.
                The
                    registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
                    establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
                    (as
                    defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
                    control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act
                    Rules
                    13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and
                    have: 
 a)
            Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure
            controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure
            that
            material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated
            subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
            during the period in which this report is being prepared;
  b)
            Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such
            internal
            control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision,
            to
            provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
            and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in
            accordance
            with generally accepted accounting principles;
  c)
            Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and
            procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
            of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period
            covered
            by this report based on such evaluation; and
  d)
            Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over
            financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal
            quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
            affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
  5.
                  The
                      registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on
                      our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
                      reporting,
                      to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s
                      board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
                      functions):
  a)
            All
            significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation
            of
            internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely
            to
            adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and
            report financial information; and
  b)
            Any
            fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees
            who
            have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial
            reporting.
  
 Date:
            March 20, 2007     /s/
            Parker H. Petit
 Parker
            H.
            Petit
 Chairman
            of the Board and
 Chief
            Executive Officer