Tis article is protected by copyright. To share or copy this article, please visit copyright.com. Use ISSN#1078-6791. To subscribe, visit alternative-therapies.com Shoghi—Massage and Mother-Infant Attachment 34 ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES, MAY/JUNE 2018 VOL. 24 NO. 3 Te Efects of Massage by Mothers on Mother-Infant Attachment Mahnaz Shoghi, MS, PhD; Soroor Sohrabi, MS; Mahboobe Rasouli, MS, PhD ORIGINAL RESEARCH ABSTRACT Context • Transferring a newborn to the intensive care unit due to a premature birth is a major obstacle in the establishment of emotional attachment between a mother and her child. Researchers believe that the formation and continuation of such an attachment have a profound efect on the child’s mental development and behavior in the coming years of life. Not all studies have agreed, however, that skin contact alone, such as massage provides, can improve attachment. Objective • Te aim of this study was to determine the efects on maternal attachment behaviors of infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of massage provided by mothers for their premature neonates. Design • Te research team designed a randomized, controlled trial. Setting • Te study took place at the Hazrat Ali Asghar Hospital of the Iran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran). Participants • Participants were 40 mothers and 40 newborns admitted to the NICU at the hospital. Intervention • Te study divided participants randomly into a massage (intervention) group and a control group receiving no massages. Mothers in the intervention group trained by watching educational videos and practicing the massage on infant manikins. Subsequently, the intervention group massaged its infants according to a 5-d program, in which each neonate received a 15-min massage session per day. Outcome Measures • Mother-infant attachment behaviors were assessed in both groups 4 times. Te maternal attachment scale was used for data collection. Results • According to the statistical analyses, the between-groups diference was not signifcant at baseline (P > .05). Te study showed a statistically signifcant diference between baseline and postintervention in the mean frequencies of maternal attachment behaviors for both groups (P < .001). In addition, a signifcant between- group diference existed postintervention between the means for maternal attachment between the intervention and control groups (P = .000). Conclusion • Massage given to premature neonates by their mothers on a daily basis can promote and maintain emotional attachment between the mother and her infant. Te fndings of the present study can be used to investigate the efects of other family members massaging newborns on the emotional attachment between them. (Altern Ter Health Med. 2018;24(3):34-39.) Mahnaz Shoghi, MS, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Pediatric and Intensive Neonatal Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Iran University of Medical Sciences, in Tehran, Iran. Soroor Sohrabi, MS, is an educational supervisor at Hazrat Ali Asghar Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences. Mahboobe Rasouli, MS, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Biostatistics Public Health School, Iran University of Medical Sciences. Corresponding author: Mahnaz Shoghi, MS, PhD E-mail address: shoghi.m@iums.ac.ir A pproximately half a million premature infants are born in the United States annually, and according to the literature, the preterm birth rate has been increasing around the world. 1 Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, refers to the birth of a newborn before completion of 37 weeks of pregnancy. 2,3 Development of a secure attachment bond between mothers and their premature neonates is always a risk in preterm birth because it usually results in the separation of a mother from her neonate. Tat separation, in turn, might disrupt the mother’s acceptance of her child. 4,5 Te separation and transfer of the infant to a neonatal intensive