title: The Latina paradox: an opportunity for restructuring prenatal care delivery.
abstract: Latina mothers in the United States enjoy surprisingly favorable birth outcomes despite their social disadvantages. This "Latina paradox" is particularly evident among Mexican-born women. The social and cultural factors that contribute to this paradox are maintained by community networks--informal systems of prenatal care that are composed of family, friends, community members, and lay health workers. This informal system confers protective factors that provide a behavioral context for healthy births. US-born Latinas are losing this protection, although it could be maintained with the support of community-based informal care systems. We recommend steps to harness the benefits of informal systems of prenatal care in Latino communities to meet the increasing needs of pregnant Latina women.
authors.affiliation: Geography Department, Western Oregon University.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: McGlade
authors.forename: Somnath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.forename: Marie E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Dahlstrom
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008019:Life Style; D017058:Mexican Americans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000208:ethnology*; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States