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Objective: to explore the experiences and perceptions of parenthood and maternal health care among Latin American women living in Spain., Design: an exploratory qualitative research using focus groups and thematic analysis of the discussion., Setting and Participants: three focus groups with 26 women from Bolivia and Ecuador and three focus groups with 24 midwives were performed in three towns in the Valencian Community receiving a large influx of immigrants., Findings: the women interpreted motherhood as the role through which they achieve fulfilment and assumed that they were the ones who could best take care of their children. They perceived that men usually make decisions about sex and pregnancy and recognised a poor or inadequate use of contraceptive methods in planning their pregnancies. Women reported that it was not necessary to go as soon and as frequently for health examinations during pregnancy as the midwives suggested. The main barriers identified to health-care services were linked to insecure or illegal employment status, inflexible appointment timetables for prenatal checkups and sometimes to ignorance about how public services worked., Key Conclusions and Implications for Practice: empowering immigrant women is essential to having a long-term positive effect on their reproductive health. Antenatal care providers should be trained to build maternity care that is culturally sensitive and responds better to the health needs of different pregnant women and their newborns., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: to explore pregnant women's perceptions and personal experiences of the influence of formal and informal social support on breast-feeding decision-making, in relation to breast-feeding initiation and duration., Design: qualitative focus groups and interviews., Setting: four primary-care centres in Valencia, Spain., Participants: 19 primiparous women in their first trimester of pregnancy participated in focus groups and 12 primiparous and multiparous women in their third trimester of pregnancy participated in interviews. Women had different socio-demographic backgrounds and socio-economic status., Findings and Conclusions: women's perceptions and personal experiences of formal and informal social support of breast feeding may be linked to age and socio-cultural status. Women from higher socio-cultural backgrounds took their partner's opinion and support more into account when choosing breast feeding. They also conceded great importance to formal health support, and employed mothers wished to have more institutional support. Among women from lower socio-cultural backgrounds, friends were the closest social network and had the greatest influence on feeding decisions. They perceived some contradictions in health-promotion messages on breast feeding, and most of them preferred to leave work after birth to exclusively care for their baby. Younger women, without previous experience of breast feeding or possibility of receiving tangible support from their mothers, wanted more practical health-care support (e.g. providing skills in breast-feeding technique)., Implications for Practice: breast-feeding promotion strategies should take into account women's different characteristics. Health professionals should consider offering postnatal support as a follow-up to practical support (e.g. breast-feeding workshops).