RESUMO
There are multiple challenges in adhering to the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), especially when there is a wide range of academic preparation within the research team. This is particularly evident in the analysis phase of qualitative research. We describe the process of conducting qualitative analysis of data on community perceptions of public maternity care in the Dominican Republic, in a cross-cultural, CBPR study. Analysis advanced through a process of experiential and conversational learning. Community involvement in analysis provided lay researchers an imperative for improvements in maternity care, nurses a new perspective about humanized care, and academic researchers a deeper understanding of how to create the conditions to enable conversational learning.