SOCIL 8 El Miedo de Dar Luz

1. El Miedo de Dar Luz:
A Qualitative Pilot
Study of Latina
Birthing Methods
- Biridiana Diaz -
SOCIL 8: Nili Kirschner

2. Introduction

3. Topic:
How do alternative birthing methods such as midwifery impact mothers’ health, knowledge, and
perspectives in the Latino/a/x community?
Significance: -
● I believe that this topic and research is not only important but necessary in order to
understand and analyze, in part because acculturation to birthing methods can offer
valuable insights on the experiences of Latina women.
● Things such as pregnancy and births can be heavily influenced by sociocultural norms and
heavily criticized on what can be considered the “right way” of the birthing practice.
● Women rely on their community and family to not only understand their experiences and
overcome the challenges that pregnancy and birthing can throw their way .

4. Review of literature
● Preliminary research conducted in 2015-16 shows that a
woman's birthing experience can impact the physical and mental
well-being of the mother, “even long after the birth of their baby”
(Niebler, Documét, Chaves-Gnecco, & Guadamuz, 2016)

5. Methods

6. Methods - qualitative
● I plan on conducting a qualitative study in the form of a semi structured interview by doing
this it would allow for an in depth interview and obtain meaningful narratives from recent
and expecting mothers who may have either used hospital or midwives/other “alternative”
birthing methods.
● Convenience sampling
● The participants will be given a consent form informing them of the research procedures
● Participants will be asked a total of 20 open ended questions
● Questions ask about their overall experience and of any community support that they may
have had (family, friends, doulas etc)
● Participants’ birthing experiences and stories will be collected and evaluated

7. Ethical considerations
Consent:
Before interview I provide participants a consent form via email, which they are able
to electronically agree or disagree to participate.
Participants have the opportunity at anytime to either retract their statements or
withdrawal all together from the research.

8. Limitations
● Small amount of interviews (no data yet)
● Time consuming (interviews, collecting data, analyzing)
● Problem of generalizing to non-latina populations
● Large variation of response (from hospital to alternative methods)
● The method of interviews can be retraumatizing conversations for
women, especially around birthing stories which still may be taboo for
latina mothers

9. Continuing research / Next steps
In the future, I plan to continue interviewing latina women on
their birthing experiences. As a pilot study, the quantity of
information was not enough to conclude solid findings. I plan to
interview mothers and mothers-to-be that have experienced both
birthing settings (hospital and alternative methods) to compare and
contrast experiences with the aim to analyze any intriguing
common themes.

10. References
Sanchez, S., & Kassel strand, I. (2017). “Provide All Women a Voice:” A
Qualitative
Study of First-Generation Mexican Immigrant Women's Experiences with
Midwives in the United States. Women's Reproductive Health, 4(3), 169-184.
Niebler, Meagan, et al. “Birth Experiences of Immigrant Latina Women in a New
Growth Community.” Researchgate , 15 May 2015,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282461626_Birth_Experiences_o
f_Immigrant_Latina_Women_in_a_New_Growth_Community.

11. Researcher’s Bio
Major: Chicana/o Studies
My name is Biridiana Diaz I will be transferring to University
of California Davis to pursue a Masters degree in chicana/o
studies. I hope to broaden my knowledge in race, ethnicity and
culture to create change and help my community.