If you live in a state that has a high percentage of Hispanic population, you may be able to find a Latino doctor. If you are more comfortable speaking Spanish and you feel more at ease with the Latino culture that could be an advantage. However, unfortunately, the percentage of Latino doctors is still very small compared to Anglo doctors, so you may not luck out.   

Cultural differences

In order to provide you with the best possible care, your doctor needs to know all the details of your medical history. In order to speak with your doctor with confidence, you must feel rapport with him or her. In general, the attitude of Latino doctors is a little different to that of Anglo doctors. Our culture values eye contact, a handshake, smiling and chatting. And although there are Anglo doctors that could be just as warm as or warmer than a Latino doctor, in general they value efficient time-management, which some patients could mistake for a distant attitude.  

This cultural sensitivity for some women is more evident during pregnancy, because hormones make us feel a lot more sensitive emotionally. That’s why it could be difficult to establish rapport with a doctor whom we perceive as being cold or distant.  

A different attitude

If your doctor’s attitude seems cold and you don’t feel comfortable, but you can’t switch doctors, do keep in mind he or she has a different attitude, but that it is not necessarily distant or worse.  

The fact that he or she doesn’t follow certain cultural customs, such as chatting at the beginning of the appointment, or smiling more often, doesn’t mean he or she can’t provide appropriate treatment. In fact, this direct attitude is probably due to the doctor having very little time available to spend with you, and wanting to provide you with the best possible care.  

Establishing the best possible communication

In the time you have available with your doctor, it is important that you can provide her with all the information required so that you and your baby are able to get the best prenatal care.  For example, if you are taking herbs or home remedies or any kind of medication that wasn’t prescribed by a doctor, your practitioner needs to know.

If you are not completely at ease during the appointment, you may forget a question you wanted to ask. You’ll leave the doctor’s office feeling a lot better if you write down your questions beforehand. Make sure the list is short, because regular prenatal appointments usually don’t last as long as the first one.   

In addition to having a written list of questions, you should ask if there is something that the doctor has said or prescribed that you don’t understand or with which you don’t agree.  In our culture, it may be considered bad manners to ask questions because it may seem like we are questioning the diagnostic or the doctor’s orders, but your practitioner will not get angry or be offended because you ask questions.  

If you aren’t as fluent in English as you are in Spanish, you could ask a family member who speaks English to come with you, or request the services of an interpreter. If your doctor works in a hospital that obtains Federal funds, there is probably an interpreter on the premises, to help Spanish-speaking patients.