Comparison of father- newborn attachment in hospitalized and non-hospitalized newborns

. When a newborn with prematurity, illness, or congenital disease is born or he/she needs medical care or dies, it can be unexpected and exhausting situation for parents especially for fathers. This study compares the Father– Newborn Bonding in hospitalized and non-hospitalized newborns. This study is a comparative descriptive study. Of the 148 fathers refer to 29 Bahman hospital, 85 fathers participated in this study that were divided into two groups (48 of them whose newborn was hospitalized and 37 of them whose newborn was non-hospitalized). The tools of study were demographic and Father- Newborn Bonding questionnaires. There was no significant difference in Father-Newborn Bonding scores in hospitalized and non-hospitalized groups (p=0.02). In non-hospitalized group the results showed direct relationship between father age and pleasure in interaction (p=0.02). Although the initial parent-newborn relations in first days of newborn life is essential for mental health and social relations in the future, but based on finding of this study, “hospitalization” is not effective factor on Father- Newborn Bonding scores.