The purpose of this study was to use
empowerment as a means of working with
pregnant women in Waru Jaya village,
rural West Java, Indonesia to improve
their nutrition in pregnancy. Pregnant
women in developing countries are at
increased risk for poor nutrition and as
a result experience increased incidence
of morbidity and mortality for
themselves and their infants. Although
poverty and poor socioeconomic
conditions are the major causes of this
poor nutrition, other limitations, such
as, cultural prohibitions, household
food distribution, and attitudes toward
women make the situation worse. In this
study I worked with 14
lower-socioeconomic pregnant women and
cadres (village volunteers) over a four
month period, using a participatory
action research methodology. The aim was
to assist the women both to become
empowered and to improve their
nutrition. Freire's empowerment model of
education was the theoretical framework
for the research. Findings from the
study suggested the women were becoming
empowered as evidenced by them gaining
new knowledge, being motivated to
change, making changes in nutritional
practice, weighing cultural beliefs,
increasing self-confidence, developing
social relationships, improving
decision-making abilities, and working
to overcome barriers. The barriers that
the women continued to experience were
poverty, availability of nutritious food
in the village, and availability of
health and nutritional care. A model was
developed to describe the empowerment
process that occurred. The research,
although limited to these women and
their situation, does have implications
for nursing practice, education, and
research, and for nutrition policy,
especially in developing countries.