[Neonatal intensive care units make new practices possible in the care of newborns]

This is a qualitative research with a socio-historical approach. It aims to understand how practices of care to the newborn were established in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Florianopolis, Brazil, in the 1980's. The study's context was the Child's Hospital Joana de Gusmão. Interviewed for this research were health professionals that had a role in the NICU implementation. The analysis of the data was performed using Foucault's genealogical method. Four discursive groups were identified: Many children had gains with that; We learned how to care for newborns; A more scientific view of care was lacking; Sensible, humanized and individualized care. The establishment of a specific unit directed to newborns resulted in a reduction in neonatal morbimortality and in the acquisition of scientific knowledge. The health professionals' speeches show that, since the beginning of the NICU, there was a concern with the sensible, humanized and individualized care of the newborn.