Mexican cultural beliefs and breastfeeding: a model for assessment and intervention.

This article describes a model which organizes beliefs and practices of women of Mexican descent and describes counseling approaches for each. The four categories of beliefs and practices are beneficial, harmless, harmful and uncertain. Counseling ideas for each of the categories includes approaches to encourage, ignore, dissuade or observe to categorize the belief later. Situational examples correspond to each category to illustrate how the model can be incorporated into practice. The model provides a methodology for assessment and intervention which considers and respects the cultural elements that influence breastfeeding.