Anxiety levels of mothers whose babies are hospitalized in neonatal intensive care unit

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the anxiety levels of mothers whose babies were hospitalized in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Method: This was a descriptive study and after the necessary permissions were obtained, it was carried out with 148 volunteered mothers whose babies were hospitalized in Karadeniz Technical University Farabi Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between November 2015 and May 2016. The data were collected with "Parent and Baby Information Form" and "State and Trait Anxiety Scale". Findings: It was determined that 56.1% of the mothers' participating in the study had a cesarean section (75.7%), 35.8% of them had graduated from high school and did not work (70.9%) and 6.8% had a risky baby in previous pregnancies. It was found that State anxiety point scores were 40.43±4.31 and Parmanent anxiety point score were 41.43±4.89. It was found that there was a statistically significant difference between maternal brestfeeding status mode of delivery and feeling ready to be discharged and State anxiety point scores; maternal working status, mode of delivery and parmanent anxiety scores. Conclusion: It was determined that the mothers' State and Parmanent anxity scores were mild in the study. Key words: Maternal anxiety level, anxiety, premature, newborn