Objective: To verify if mothers of newborns hospitalized recognize the defining characteristics of "parental role conflict" as representative of that experience.
Methods: A cross-sectional and descriptive study, developed in a neonatal unit of a public teaching hospital in the state of São Paulo. The sample consisted of 100 women who assigned scores of 1 to 5 to the defining characteristics of the diagnosis, where 1 meant "not at all characteristic" and 5 meant "completely characteristic of what I am experiencing."
Result: Of the total sample, 96 women self-identified with the diagnosis. The most prevalent defining characteristics were: "anxiety," "mother expresses concern(s) in relation to changes in maternal role"; "verbalizes feelings of frustration," "reports concern about family" and "fear". Women who were with their children less often during hospitalization had a higher number of defining characteristics.
Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of the defining characteristics of the studied diagnosis, suggesting the relevance of the topic and the need for further studies to be developed in the neonatal unit.