The childbearing Haitian refugee--cultural applications to clinical nursing

As a result of the recent influx of Haitian refugees, referred to as the "boat people," the large county-owned hospital in Miami, Fla., reported that, of the 8,000 births for 1980, approximately 1 in 5 deliveries was of a Haitian woman. One hundred fourteen Haitians gave birth at that institution during July 1980, and this pattern continues to date. Although some research investigations have been conducted in relation to Haitians, none have had the specific focus of this study which used an assessment tool to develop a cultural profile of the refugee Haitian childbearing client as a basis for deriving culturally appropriate nursing goals and interventions. Ten pregnant refugee women, born in Haiti and residing in Miami, were interviewed in their homes by a Haitian (Creole-speaking) interviewer. Areas of respondent consensus and individual responses of interest are discussed in this paper. The authors have compiled a list of care givers' goals and interventions directed toward specific beliefs, values, and practices. Assumptions held by nursing personnel that all Haitian childbearing clients who have recently arrived in south Florida are so different as to have few characteristics in common with the American culture are not supported by the findings of this investigation. Rather, the findings suggest that the 10 Haitian women who were interviewed generally perceived pregnancy and its particular needs and characteristics in much the same way and with similar concerns as their American counterparts. The variations in their responses reemphasized the need for accurate culture-specific assessment of each client in order to provide appropriate health care. Replicating the study among the other cultures in the Miami area would extend the interpretations of this study and be an exciting challenge.