Caring for pregnancy: the case of Tseltal midwives in Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract

Justification: The existence of ethnic groups in Mexico, gives an important cultural significance for the care of pregnant women. In Sitalá, Chiapas, Mexico, midwives have built their trajectory through traditional generational knowledge, with a different way of treating maternal and child health problems with respect to the biomedical care system. Objectives: Understand the cultural practices of midwives in the care of the pregnant woman of the Tseltal ethnic group. Methodology: Ethnographic study of 8 participants, content analysis until saturation. Theoretical references of the Model Rachel Spector and Model of Cultural Competence of Larry Purnell. Results and discussion: The sobada, is a manipulation of the traditional midwife used by the traditional health care system in indigenous communities of the Tzeltal ethnic group, they cure, accompany and advise in the primordial moments of family development. Conclusion: Living midwifery provides accompanied care during pregnancy with safety, physical and emotional comfort. They are non-formal leaders of the communities and a means to generate changes in health; so the communication of the nursing professional is paramount in the conservation of health or self-care that can be achieved in these communities.

Keywords

• parteria
• cuidado cultural
• sobada