Transcultural nursing is a critical component of the nursing profession in an ever-changing culturally diverse world. It is important for the nurse to recognize and acknowledge the patient's social and cultural dissimilarities. This will help prevent the imposition of the nurse's beliefs on the patient. Japanese cultural beliefs are not commensurable to American ones in how they approach the process of labor and birth. Nursing interventions should therefore be reflective and understandable of Japanese cultural beliefs. Japanese and American Cultural Approaches to Labor and Birth There is not much emphasis on prenatal care in Japan. It is considered appropriate for the mother to be visited 3-4 times during pregnancy. Sometimes the midwife or obstetrician decides that an ultrasound of the baby is necessary. Ultrasound is used solely for the purpose of taking a closer look at the mother's reproductive anatomy or the baby's anatomy. In Japanese culture it is considered taboo and rather rude for the ultrasound technician or doctor to tell the mother the sex of her baby. In American culture during the first 8 months of pregnancy the woman will have prenatal visits scheduled monthly. At the beginning of the eighth month you will have biweekly prenatal visits. During the 38th week you will transition to weekly prenatal visits until your baby is born. If the patient has a high-risk pregnancy, her prenatal visits may occur more frequently. The frequency of high-risk prenatal visits will depend on the provider and complications associated with the pregnancy. During high-risk prenatal visits, the patient will typically undergo more specialized tests to monitor her health, as well as…middle of paper…family in North America and Europe. New York, London, Taylor and Francis Groupe. Cooke, Courtney. (2001). The best book for the baby shower. Minnetonka, MN, Meadowbrook Press.Davidhizar, Ruth Elaine and Newman-Giger, Joyce. (2004). Transcultural nursing. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mosby Inc. Davis-Floyd, Robbie E. and Sargent, Carolyn F. (1997). Child birth and authoritative knowledge: Cross-cultural perspectives. United States, University of California Press.Kitayama, Shinoubu and Miyamoto, Yuri and Morling, Beth. (2003). American and Japanese women use different coping strategies during normal pregnancy. United States, SAGE Publications. Mayo Clinic Collaborative Services Educational Publication. (2004). Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy. New York, NY, Harper Collins Publishers Inc. Wattenberg, Laura. (2005). The baby naming wizard. New York, NY, Random House Inc.