This study aimed to understand severe maternal morbidity from the perspective of women who experienced it. The methodological precepts of qualitative research were adopted and the Collective Subject Discourse was the methodological framework chosen. A total of 16 women who experienced severe maternal morbidity were interviewed. Results were discussed based on four themes: describing the desire and plan for having a child; acknowledging the health problem and its influence on pregnancy and on the conceptus; overcoming the initial shock postpartum, and experiencing the risk situation: desires, frustration, and overcoming. This study will contribute to qualifying nursing care, specifically acknowledging the diversity and breadth of the needs presented by women in situations of severe morbidity during the pregnancy-puerperal cycle.