Culturally sensitive care during childbirth

The objective of this study was to identify culturally grounded meanings of the concepts of comfort, presence, and involvement in the context of the c hildbirth experience. This was an exploratory study using a descriptive, qu alitative design. The sample was made up of Black and White American women more than 18 years of age, who had given birth within the past 72 hours, an d spoke English as their primary language. The analytical protocol followed was content analysis-i.e., the systematic reduction and simplification of data. To increase the validity and reliability/reproducibility of the analy tic strategy, the researchers independently reviewed the process of data re duction to ensure conceptual clarity and consistency in the classification and elucidation of data. The conclusion reached was that differences exist between Black and White American women as regards descriptions and expectat ions about the concept of comfort and involvement during the labor and birt h experience. These findings have implications for individual nursing pract ice behaviors as well as for the development of unit-based policies and pre natal education. Copyright (C) 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company.