Mexican American Women’s Expressions of the Meaning of Culturally Congruent Prenatal Care

The purpose of this study was to describe, explicate, and systematically analyze the meanings, expressions, and experiences of generic and professional care during pregnancy of Mexican American women in their home and prenatal clinic contexts. The ethnonursing method was used to describe cultural care among 16 key and 34 general informants. Generic culture care was valued and considered essential by informants for healthy childbearing. Six major themes were synthesized from 30 cultural patterns: (a) generic culture care included the protection of the mother and fetus by older Mexican American women and was greatly influenced by religion and family beliefs and practices; (b) generic culture care was family obligation for provision of filial (family) succorance, sharing of self, and being with the childbearing mother; (c) culture care was respect for familial caring roles in relation to age and gender; (d) childbearing Mexican American women viewed culture care by professional nurses as concern for, professional knowledge, protection, being attentive to, and explaining; (e) culture care was use of the Spanish language in caring interactions in diverse environmental contexts; and (f) professional prenatal care was valued by Mexican American women and was influenced by legal, economic, and technological factors in the social structure.