The objective of the study was to describe the experience of the family that lives with the sequels of prematurity in the first years of a child's life. That was qualitative study developed in Maringá, PR, Brazil, with eight families of children born from 1998 to 2008 at a University Hospital. Data was collected through open interviews carried out at the home of the families in the period from January to June 2006. The families of premature babies revealed the anguish and the suffering experienced when they found little by little, the limitations, differences and current sequels of prematurity. They emphasized that this experience can be translated as a long path in search of a better understanding of the whole process.
Family; Infant, low birth weight; Pediatric nursing
