This study aimed to identify the feelings, experiences and the parents' expectations on the first visit to their child hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Descriptive study with qualitative approach accomplished in the NICU of a university hospital of Maringá-PR. Were interviewed nine mothers and one father. Data was collected in the second fortnight of June 2010, through semi-structured interviews, analyzed by means of the referential of content analysis by Bardin. The thematic categories that emerged from the statements were: Longings for the baby before the first visit; Undergoing the first visit; and Dealing with the information. The found results broaden the understanding of the feelings and of the parents' needs in the first visit to the child admitted in a NICU and allowed a reflection on nursing interventions that can soften the negative implications of that situational period of the life cycle.
Neonatal Nursing; Intensive Care Neonatal; Infant Premature; Parents
