A call to action. Acculturation level and family-planning patterns of Hispanic immigrant women

To describe family-planning patterns of Hispanic women and to determine their relationship to acculturation level and to selected maternal demographic, pregnancy, and infant birth indices.

Descriptive correlational.

A convenience sample of 376 Hispanic women was drawn from prenatal clinics in a large, public teaching hospital in the Southwest United States. Acculturation status was assessed during the prenatal period using the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans II. Maternal data concerning pregnancy, infant birth, postpartum, and family planning were abstracted from the hospital record. Data were analyzed using descriptive, correlational, and multiple regression procedures.

Most women were of Mexican origin, first generation in the United States, and oriented toward traditional Mexican cultural beliefs and values. Most were married, had less than an eighth-grade education, and experienced a first or second healthy pregnancy with healthy birth outcomes. Over 66% of the women returned for at least one visit in the first year postbirth; compliance at 1 yr declined to 28%. Five variables were significantly correlated with family-planning visit compliance: number of pregnancies, generation in the United States, acculturation level, trimester of first prenatal visit, number of prenatal visits, and gestational age of newborn.

Nurses are in a pivotal position to educate the Mexican immigrant woman about healthcare for herself and for her family, but need to recognize cultural influences on family-planning behavior. Effective interventions build on existing knowledge, beliefs, and practices of traditional immigrant women. It is important to include the generation in the United States as an indicator of adherence to traditional values and beliefs.