Background & objectives: One of the most important needs of neonates after birth is emotional relationship with their mothers. Preterm birth is a stressful event for mothers. With preterm birth, the mother’s antenatal attachment to the neonate and preparation for the neonate’s birth is interrupted. Therefore, it has been assumed that preterm birth is a risk factor for insufficient development of the mother-neonate attachment. The aim of this study was to assess mother- newborn’s attachment and its related factors in mothers of preterm neonates hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units in Tehran.

Methods: It was a descriptive-analytic research. Through stratified sampling method, 463 mothers of preterm neonates’ were included in the study. Data was collected through demographic and maternal attachment questionnaire. The correlation between the attachment and demographic variables were assessed using SPSS v.19.

Results: The mean of attachment score was 56.59%. There was significant relationship between neonate gender, desired pregnancy and desired neonate gender with attachment (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Findings suggest that desired pregnancy can affect the maternal attachment. Nurses should improve maternal psychological condition before delivery and providing some facilities to decrease stress of mothers of preterm neonates and involve them in caring of their neonate which may have positive effect on maternal attachment.