Introduction:

The clinical method is the scientific method applied to the individual care of a patient. Its application in the neonatology specialty has its own characteristics due to the particular relationship settled among the doctor, the newborn and the parents.

Objective:

To describe the importance of the clinical method in such a young specialty as it is neonate’s intensive care.

Methods:

It was carried out a review on the clinical method and its application in neonatology. Articles of the last ten years were looked for in CUMED, LILACS, PubMED and Cochrane Library, in Spanish, English and Portuguese languages. They were used a total of 26 bibliographical references.

Results:

In neonatology the simple doctor-patient relationship becomes a more complex one that is the doctor-patient-parents relationship. There is no laboratory test that replaces the appropriate interrelation among these three elements that constitute the basic strategy for the application of the clinical method in Neonatology. Clinical observation begins since the parents arrive to a consultation with the newborn. Their facial expressions and attitudes with the newborn are factors to consider making a good clinical diagnosis and also the most frequent errors that are made during the physical exam of the newborn.

Final considerations:

The clinical method in neonatology is a fundamental tool but it has specific particularities because newborns don't have the ability of communication; that is why it is very important knowing how to listen to the parents and to be attentive to their manifestations.

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