Objective:

To explore the care provided to immigrant children and the relationships between nurses and immigrant parents within the Madrid health services (Spain).

Methods:

Qualitative case-study design with ethnographic approach. Field observations took place in two hospitals and a primary health care center. Twenty-four interviews were recorded and qualitative analysis of the data was conducted via the constant comparison method.

Results:

Results are shown in three sections: (1) Being an immigrant parent; (2) The health system and immigrants; and (3) Cultural care.

Conclusions:

The differences between the immigrant parents and the Spanish parents were centered on practices such as child hygiene, co-sleeping, the kangaroo-mother method, caring for the umbilical cord, clothing, and breastfeeding. The language barrier, gender roles, family composition and other socioeconomic factors influence the care. When studying the relationships between nurses and immigrants, the context in which these occur is highly relevant, and includes both the societal context and that of the health services.