The training of neonatologists and the paradigms implied in their relationship with the parents of babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Objective: To analyze and to interpret the psychological repercussions generated by the presence of parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for residents in Neonatology.

Methods: Study based on the psychoanalytic theory, involving a methodological interface with qualitative surveys in Health Sciences. Twenty resident physicians in Neonatology, from five public institutions of São Paulo state, responded to a single semi-structured interview.