Mindy Kaling feels "anxious" about motherhood.

The 38-year-old actress announced she was expecting her first child in August, but Mindy has confessed the prospect of becoming a parent has left her feeling a bit nervous.

She shared: "Right now, I just feel so anxious.

"But, I'd like to be the fun mom. I know I'm gonna be the dorky mom. So, if I could be kind of fun, too, I think that would be nice."

Mindy also joked that becoming a parent will grant her the freedom to criticise other mothers.

The 'Mindy Project' star told 'The Today Show': "It's so easy to criticise parenting until you're a parent. So, one of the nice things about becoming a parent is that I'll be able to openly criticise other parenting because I will have a child."

Mindy enjoyed a close relationship with her own mother, Swati Roysircar, before she died of pancreatic cancer in 2012.

And the actress hopes to develop a similarly close bond with her own daughter.

Mindy - who has a brother called Vijay - said: "My mom was incredibly fierce and so devoted to us.

"[She] just loved us and really wanted us to be happy no matter what we did."

In particular, Mindy is thankful to her mother for being so supportive of her career choice, even though she "wasn't familiar" with the entertainment industry.

She said: "If I could give that to my child, just that open-mindedness, I'd be so happy."

Mindy has remained tight-lipped about the identity of her baby's father, but has admitted she has no idea what to expect when it comes to motherhood.

She confessed: "It's so unknown to me. I have a lot of control over a lot of aspects of my life, and this is one where I'm like, 'OK, it's out of my hands,' which is kind of a fun feeling."