Assistance to the newborn: perspectives for the nursing knowledge in neonathology (1937-1979)

The study attempts to describe the nursing care given to newborns and to analyze the modifications in the nursing care for newborns in the period from 1937 to 1979. It is a historical study. The primary sources were fourteen articles published in the Brazilian magazine of Nursing during the period in question, and the secondary sources were national and international books and periodicals which refer to the history of pediatrics and of neonatology. The detailed description of the direct nursing cares (basic and specific) and indirect nursing care given to the newborn from the nursing staff during this period became evident through such analysis. Among the basic direct nursing cares are detached: corporal hygiene and care for the umbilical stump. The specific direct cares are: respiratory infections and syndromes. The indirect cares are related to material and equipment. It was concluded that the official speech of the nurses was directed towards the systematization of nursing care for newborns, as pioneers in neonatal intensive cares.