The Effect of Aromatherapy on Anxiety in Mothers with Premature Infants: A Clinical Trial Study

Background: Mothers of premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience stress and anxiety. Reducing anxiety in mothers is essential to ensure the quality of care for infants with special needs after discharge. Non-pharmacological methods of managing anxiety are encouraged for breastfeeding mothers. Aim: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of aromatherapy with Damask Rose (DR) on anxiety in mothers with premature infants admitted to NICU. Method: In this clinical trial study, 75 eligible mothers selected through convenience sampling method were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. In addition to the routine care, the mothers in the intervention group received a 5-10-minutes inhaled aromatherapy with 10% DR for ten consecutive nights. The mothers of the control group only received routine care. The tools of the study were a demographic information form and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software (version 22). P 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean scores of state anxiety significantly reduced in the intervention (48.88±10.16 to 40.68±8.62) and control groups (52.30±7.40 to 51.27±7.30). Due to the significant difference between change in before-after scores in the two groups, aromatherapy was more effective than routine care in reducing anxiety (P 0.0001). Also, the mean score of trait anxiety significantly decreased from 49.14±9.99 to 44.37±10.0 in the intervention group (P 0.0001). Implications for Practice: Aromatherapy with DR decreases anxiety in mothers of preterm infants hospitalized in the NICU; therefore, it can be recommended for the management of anxiety in this population.