This is a descriptive study with a qualitative approach that aimed at applying the Paterson and Zderad humanistic theory on mothers of newborn babies under phototherapy. The subjects were ten mothers whose babies were under phototherapeutic treatment at the Neonatal Unit of a public maternity hospital in Fortaleza-CE. Data was collected from May to July 2002 through participative observation and grouping, contemplating the phases of phenomenological nursing. Themes and categories emerged from data analysis. From the theme "mothers` perception on phototherapy" the following categories emerged: separation of the binomial mother-son and family, how the newborn feels phototherapy the mothers` imagination; the category fear emerged from the theme "reaction of mothers concerning phototherapic treatment" and the category communication, from the theme "multiprofessional team". We concluded that the methodology adopted allowed through dialogical relation and authentic presence to understand and think about the meaning of "being the mother" of a newborn baby under phototherapy.
Phototherapy; Mother-son relations; Nursing theory