SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS IN THE USE OF PRENATAL-CARE BY HMONG WOMEN, MINNEAPOLIS

Understanding the sociocultural context of prenatal care underuse by a n immigrant population can suggest programmatic changes that result in more effective health care delivery. Ethnographic survey interviews o f female Hmong clinic patients conducted in 1987/88 revealed that they objected to biomedical procedures and to being attended by several do ctors; the women also reported poor communication with staff as a prob lem. Clinic reforms implemented in 1989/90 included hiring a nurse-mid wife, reducing the number of pelvic examinations, expanding hours of o peration, creating a direct telephone line to Hmong interpreters, and producing a Hmong-language prenatal health care education videotape. W omen interviewed in 1993 reported a more positive clinic experience.