Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part C (2025)

Background: The hospitalization of a neonate in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is usually stressful for the mother and all the other family members. Identifying aspects of babies, mothers and the environment that can cause stress may be useful in assisting health personnel in understanding their importance and in improving the quality of care. 
Methods: The study was conducted in the Level III NICU of a tertiary care hospital which caters to outborn patients only. All the neonates admitted to the NICU for >7 days during the study period who met inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited for the study. An allowable error sample size of 129 was calculated. This study used the PSS: NICU (Parental Stress Scale: NICU) Questionnaire which was administered to the mothers and the data was analyzed. 
Results: Stress levels are significantly higher in young mothers (<25 years) than in mothers older than 25 years (p < 0.0001) and stress levels in mothers with education up to primary/ high school were significantly higher than those who had completed intermediate/ graduate level education. Stress levels in primigravida mothers were higher than in multigravida mothers (p< 0.0001), higher in those with preterm neonates than with term neonates. Among the three subscales of the questionnaire, the mean stress score was highest (3.91) for ‘Relationship and parental role’ compared to the other two subscales (p= 0.03). 
Conclusion: Factors such as maternal age, maternal education, gestational maturity, and duration of hospital stay influenced the stress levels of mothers significantly.