ABSTRACT
The purposes of the study was to analyze the meanings assigned by the father to the assistance of pre-term infants in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and to discuss how these meanings influence paternal care. It is a qualitative study with an ethnographic approach, carried out in a neonatal unit in Rio de Janeiro. Twenty-two fathers whose pre-term infants were hospitalized have been interviewed. Data were collected by means of a field logbook, participative observation and semi-structured interviews. Through thematic analysis, the inferred categories were a) father-child proximity and the permanence at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: overcoming obstacles and revealing motivations, b) the inclusion of fathers in caring for pre-term children: limits and possibilities. Nurses should favor the proximity of fathers and newborns to strengthen their relationship. The intensivist care neonatal practice should include strategies to support male parenting in pre-term birth considering the perspective of gender equity.
DESCRIPTORS:
Father-child relationship; Neonatal nursing; Neonatal intensive care units; Paternity.