The objectives of this study were to identify the mother's needs during the hospitalization of the child with cancer and understand how the uncertainties in the disease shape up in this experience. The theoretical framework of the study was the symbolic interactionism and the methodological framework, the interpretative interactionism. The data were obtained by semi-structured interviews. ten (10) mothers, whose children were hospitalized in a specialized institution in são paulo, participated of the study. We identified three categories that describe the mother's needs: 1) need of being with and follow the treatment; 2) need of being supported during weakness; 3) need to maintain ties with the family. The mother's needs during the hospitalization of the child with cancer have multidimensional character and its recognition is essential to guarantee the creation of a context that raises the mother's function supporting the child with cancer.
Mothers; Hospitalized child; Neoplasms; Uncertainty