THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIETY LEVELS OF MOTHERS OF LATE PREMATURE AND TERM INFANTS AND BREASTFEEDING SELF-EFFICACY AND BREASTFEEDING SUCCESS

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine anxiety levels of mothers who gave birth to late preterm and term infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) and evaluate the associations with breastfeeding outcomes. Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional and comparative study was carried out in two hospitals between June 2019 and December 2021. The research sample consisted of 50 late preterm and 50 term infant mothers. The state and trait anxiety scale, the LATCH Breastfeeding Diagnosis and Evaluation and the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale were administered to the mothers. Results: While no statistically significant difference was found between mothers of late preterm and term infants in terms of trait anxiety scale scores in the study (p>0.05). the state anxiety scale scores of mothers of late premature infants were found to be lower (p