BACKGROUNDMaternal-fetal attachment, which forms as soon as pregnancy starts, is essential to an infant’s mental development.OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to explore the effect of teaching attachment behaviors to pregnant women on infant mental health from birth to 3 months of age.DESIGNRandomized controlled trial.SETTINGHafiz Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran, from February to November 2014.PATIENTS AND METHODSThe participants were randomly divided into an intervention and a control group at 28–34 weeks gestation. The participants in the intervention group attended six educational sessions each lasting for 60–90 minutes. After delivery, the infants of mothers in each group were compared in terms of mental health indexes (total mean scores and scores derived from a checklist of questions for infant mental health with results categorized as low, average and high). Maternal anxiety levels were also recorded at birth and at 3 months.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)Infant mental health index.RESULTSIn 190 pregnant women (96 in the intervention group and 94 in the control group), the total mean (SD) scores for infant mental health at birth were 16.66 (1.51) in the intervention group and 16.07 (1.74) in the control group (P=.013). At 3 months, the total mental health scores infants were 31.05 (1.88) in the intervention group and 30.25 (2.10) in the control group (P=.007). Differences in checklist scores between the groups at 3 months were not statistically significant, except for crying intensity at 3 months (P=.021). Women in the control group had higher anxiety levels at 3 months (P=.01).CONCLUSIONTeaching attachment skills to mothers increased the attachment between the mothers and their infants, and consequently, improved infant mental health. Thus, teaching attachment skills should be incorporated into routine prenatal care.LIMITATIONSUse of phone calls by the researcher to assess mental health.

Background. During pregnancy fetus-maternal attachment can improve maternal-fetal attachment, and have positive effects on the infant's growth and development. Objectives. This study aimed to investigate the effect of training pregnant mothers about attachment skills on infants' motor development indices at birth to four months. Material and methods. This study is a clinical trial with convenient sampling on 190 pregnant women in hafez hospital. They were randomly divided into two groups: intervention and control. There were 94 and 96 patients in the control and intervention groups, respectively. In the intervention group, 6 sessions of 90-minute educational classes were held. After birth, the infants were compared, in both groups, in terms of motor status using the Denver questionnaire at birth to the age of 4 months. Results. In the intervention group, educating the women on fetal-maternal attachment skills was associated with infants' earlier achievement age in terms of some gross motor, all fields of speech-language, and one item of fine-adaptive motor realms. In addition, the infants' age was significantly reduced in achieving some personal-social items, as well as gross-fine scope at one and three months. Conclusions. Training the mothers in attachment skills increased fetal-maternal attachment and improved the motor development indicators in infants aged up to four months. Therefore, training in attachment skills is recommended to be given as a component of routine pregnancy care.