PURPOSES: to identify feelings expressed by the mothers during their children's Neonatal Auditory Screening (NAS), to check the sufficiency of the provided information; to find out their opinions on the possibility of having a hearing impaired child. METHODS: during three months 75 mothers that gave birth at the University Hospital were interviewed after signing the Permission Form when they arrived for the Optional Neonatal Auditory Screening. Information on the purposes and procedures of NAS were provided, showing the importance of the screening done between the age of 8 and 12 months. A questionnaire was applied by undergraduate Audiology students. The questionnaire was applied individually. RESULTS: 58 (77.3%) mothers affirm that NAS is an early way of identifying hearing impairment; 64 (85.3%) consider that the provided information is sufficient; 27 (36%) point out having positive feelings during their children's screening, 23 (30.7%) point out negative feelings, while 25 (33.3%) point out having mixed feelings about the subject. As to the possibility of having a hearing impaired child, 57 (76%) mothers showed negative opinions. CONCLUSIONS: the majority of the interviewed mothers were able to answer correctly on what NAS was, as well as they considered the information given about the test to be sufficient; there was a predominance of positive feelings during the screening; the possibility of having a hearing impaired child was considered null by three-thirds of the studied mothers.
Neonatal Screening; Emotions; Hearing Loss
