The object of this study is the cultural practices of maternal care in the management of childhood asthma. Objectives: to describe both maternal knowledge and care of child asthma and to analyze maternal care in the management of child asthma. This is an exploratory descriptive study developed with the use of questionnaires and interviews with mothers of asthmatic children from September 2008 to January 2009. After thematic analysis of data, three categories emerged: 1) The concept of asthma and its management in the eyes of caretaker mothers, 2) Asthma both as a suffering and a risk to children's lives, 3) Medicinal plants, simpathies and religiosity in the care of asthmatic children. The results have shown that it is important to respect the culture of caretaker mothers of children with asthma, so that their beliefs can be preserved, accommodated and restructured with professional care.
Child health; Transcultural nursing; Pediatric nursing; Child care; Asthma