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Context Matters: A Qualitative Study About the Perinatal Experiences of Latina Immigrant Women

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Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although immigrants’ health is better compared to their native-born counterparts, their wellbeing starts to deteriorate as they spend more time in the United States. To date, few qualitative studies investigate how migration can influence the perinatal period. This study qualitatively assesses Latina immigrant mothers’ perinatal experiences. Thirty Latina women were recruited in 2015 to participate in interviews, all of which were conducted in Spanish. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Latina mothers' experiences during the perinatal period were impacted by the cultural expectations that may or may not depend on the context where they are located. Context-independent themes included: (1) Cravings and (2) Body dissatisfaction. Context-dependent themes included: (1) Breastfeeding and (2) Loss of extended social ties. In order to reduce health disparities in the perinatal period among Latina immigrant mothers and their children, it is necessary to provide interventions that promote healthy behaviors and increase social capital and peer support.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author [MPL]. The data are not publicly available due to them containing information that could compromise research participant privacy/consent.

Notes

  1. All names have been changed to protect participant’s confidentiality.

Abbreviations

GWG:

Gestational weight gain

LBW:

Low birthweight

NLB:

Non-Latinx Black

NLW:

Non-Latinx White

PTB:

Preterm birth

WIC:

Women, infant and children

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Funding

María Pineros-Leano and this study were supported in part by a training grant from the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Illinois Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention Program Grant (2011-67001-30101) to the Division of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois. Nancy Jacquelyn Pérez-Flores is supported by Grant Number T32MH019960 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Mental Health or the National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Boston College, School of Social Work, McGuinn Hall, 140 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA

    María Pineros-Leano & Laura Yao

  2. Washington University, School of Social Work, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Nancy Jacquelyn Pérez-Flores

  3. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Katherine Damian

  4. Department of Psychology, Universidad de la Sabana, Cundinamarca, Colombia

    Natalia Piñeros-Leaño

  5. Sociology Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

    Kelli Rodrigues

Authors
  1. María Pineros-Leano
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  2. Nancy Jacquelyn Pérez-Flores
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  3. Katherine Damian
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  4. Natalia Piñeros-Leaño
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  5. Laura Yao
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  6. Kelli Rodrigues
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Contributions

MPL collected the data, conceptualized and drafted the manuscript, and oversaw data analysis and interpretation; NJPF and KD were major contributors of data interpretation, and in writing this manuscript; LY and NPL analyzed the data and contributed to editing the manuscript; KR was a major contributor in writing and editing this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to María Pineros-Leano.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

All the procedures were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under Reference Number 15567, and the analysis of the data was approved by Boston College Institutional Review Board under Reference Number 19.070.01E. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all research participants.

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Pineros-Leano, M., Pérez-Flores, N.J., Damian, K. et al. Context Matters: A Qualitative Study About the Perinatal Experiences of Latina Immigrant Women. J Immigrant Minority Health 25, 8–15 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01372-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01372-2

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