Abstract Objective To describe the perception of mothers of newborns hospitalized in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a public hospital in the city of São Paulo regarding the bond with their child. Methods This is a qualitative case study conducted through semi-structured interviews with 12 mothers of newborns hospitalized for at least 24 hours. Data were submitted to Bardin’s content analysis technique. National ethical precepts were respected. Results From data analysis, the following categories emerged: 1) The new real; […]