Collaborating with Culturally Competent Prenatal Education among Hispanic Communities

Hispanics represent the largest minority group in the United States. In Kansas, the population of Hispanics has been increasing; unfortunately, their infant mortality rate has increased as well. Baby Talk is a prenatal education program promoting maternal and infant health through risk-reduction strategies and healthy decision-making. The aim of this pilot project was to develop and evaluate a Spanish curriculum for Baby Talk.

A collaborative partnership between bilingual community members and health professionals from different origins, nationalities, and Spanish dialects was formed to create a culturally and linguistically appropriate Spanish Baby Talk curriculum. This interventional pilot mixed methods research study employed quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate participant knowledge, intentions, satisfaction, and perceptions of the new curriculum.

Fifteen pregnant women participated in Spanish Baby Talk. Of those, 12 participated in either phone interviews (n = 6) or a focus group (n = 6). All respondents described their experience with the Spanish Baby Talk program as "excellent". Significant increases in knowledge were seen related to topics such as benefits of full-term pregnancy and benefits of breastfeeding. Four themes were identified from the focus group and interviews: 1) lack of accessible community resources; 2) sense of community; 3) Spanish Baby Talk strengths; and 4) areas for improvements.

Findings suggested that the Spanish Baby Talk curriculum was linguistically appropriate and resulted in increases in knowledge and intentions related to health and safety behaviors. Areas for improvement were related to marketing the program and referring to resources that provide material supports (i.e., diapers) to continue the move towards a culturally competent program.