Background: Stress is a common disorder occurs worldwide in everyone’s life. It affects the mind and the body. Mothers of children in the NICU experience high levels of stress and that there are interventions which can decrease the stress level of the parents and also can affect their ability to breast feed their infant. Hospitalization of a child is the break in the unity of the family. Emotional reactions of each member of the family must be considered to help them to adjust with stress due to the hospital situation and illness. Parents whose child has been admitted to the hospital feel not only separation from their children but also feeling of inadequacy as others provide care for other children. They feel anxiety, anger, fear, disappointment, self­ blame and possible guilty feeling due to lack of confidence and competence for caring the child in illness and wellness.Objectives: 1. To identify the level of stress among mothers when their neonates are admitted in NICU. 2. To identify the coping strategies used by mothers in NICU. 3. To correlate the stress with coping strategies used by mothers in NICU. 4. To determine the association of stress level and coping strategies with the selected demographic variables. Method: A descriptive research design was used to assess the level of stress and coping strategies among mothers of neonates admitted in NICU at S.V.R.R.G.G.H, Tirupati. A total of 100 NICU mothers were selected by purposive sampling technique. Tool used for conducting study was Parental Stressor Scale and Coping Health Inventory for parents to assess the level of stress and coping strategies. Data were analyzed with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The major findings of the study revealed that among 100 mothers 27 (27%) mothers had mild stress, 49(49%) mothers had moderate stress and 24(24%) mothers had severe stress. Among 100 mothers 30(30%) mothers had poor coping, 47(47%) mothers had moderate coping and 23(23%) mothers had good coping. Conclusion: The amount of stress that the mothers of neonates experienced was the result of NICU admission. The nurses in the unit should work out a plan for educational programmes based on stress level that will help the mothers to gain knowledge on coping strategies.

Keywords: Intensive Care Unit; Mothers; Stress; Coping Strategies.