Abstract: Objective: To classify the developmental trajectory of maternal antenatal attachment among pregnant women with Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and to identify the influencing factors, aiming to provide references for developing related interventions. Methods: From August to December 2023, a convenience sampling of 280 pregnant women with ART who were attending the obstetrics clinic of a tertiary grade A hospital in Nanjing was recruited. The Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale was employed to assess the level of maternal antenatal attachment at gestational ages of 10-14, 22-26, and 34-38 weeks. The latent growth mixture modeling and unordered multinomial Logistic regression were utilized for data processing. Results: Totally 256 participants completed the survey. The developmental trajectories of maternal antenatal attachment was divided into three categories, namely the medium attachment-rising type (65.2%), the low attachment-sustained type (7.8%), and the high attachment-stable type (27.0%). Influencing factors included gravidity, history of adverse pregnancy, infertility causes, and primary sources of motivation for fertility (all P<0.05). Conclusion: The trajectories of maternal antenatal attachment among pregnant women with ART exhibit heterogeneity. It is recommended that medical staff develop targeted intervention measures based on the specific influencing factors associated with different latent subgroups. This approach may serve to enhance the level of maternal antenatal attachment level of pregnant women with ART, improve the quality of pregnancy, and promote the health of both the mother and the child.

Key words: Assisted Reproductive Technology; maternal antenatal attachment; latent growth mixture modeling; influencing factors