Introduction:In Peru there is a high incidence of premature newborns with various alterations. Nurses have the task of educating mothers about home care on neurodevelopmental and physiological functioning to prevent alterations of language, motor area and coordination of the child.Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the educational program "pasitos de ternura" in the maternal knowledge about care of the premature child graduated in a hospital in Chiclayo, Peru. Methods:A quasi-experimental quantitative study was carried out with the use of a validated survey before and after 5 sessions is educational every 15 days to 30 mothers of premature newborns. The chi-square test was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational program, with a confidence interval (CI) of 95%, presenting a significant relationship if p<0.05.Results: 33% of mothers presented a score of regular too bad before the educational program. There was an increase in the level of knowledge in 2.4 points, significantly after receiving the educational program (95% CI 1.19-3.60, t=4.07, p=0.000). The degree of maternal education had a significant correlation with the increase in the score (Spearman=0.45, p=0.012). Conclusion:Maternal knowledge about premature newborn care is deficient, but after the implementation of the maternal education program a significant improvement of knowledge in the physiological and self-regulation aspects can be achieved, thus preventing repercussions in the child.