Objective To identify the caregiving needs of parents of very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) in the NICU under Partial Family-integrated Care Model, and to provide references for improving the care experience of VLBWI parents and optimizing family-integrated care management.Methods Purposeful sampling was used to select 18 parents of VLBWI hospitalized in the NICU from May to June 2024 for semi-structured interviews.Directional content analysis method was employed to organize and analyze the data.Results A parental journey map was developed that delineated parents′ concerns, emotions, pain points, and needs across four stages:(1) maternal-infant separation during NICU hospitalization, (2) day 1 of family integrated care participation, (3) later stage of family integrated care (2 days before discharge while still participating in care), and (4) at NICU discharge.Across these stages, 33 themes were extracted covering the four domains of concerns, emotional experiences, pain points, and needs.Conclusion Under the Partial Family- integrated Care Model, parents of VLBWI exhibit distinct concerns, emotional responses, and needs at different phases of their infant′s hospitalization.These insights can inspire the development and implementation of tailored family centered care interventions to enhance parental experience and potentially improve long term outcomes for the infant.