Objective: to investigate the impact of social and health factors on respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) among preterm neonates. Design: survey based on the data from perinatal register. Materials: 4098 reports on preterm deliveries. Methods: descriptive statistics and multi-factor logistic regression. Dependent variable: RDS. Independent: maternal age, marital status, education, place of residence, mode of delivery, diseases before pregnancy, diseases during pregnancy, obstetrical history, pregnancy weight gain rate, pre-pregnancy BMI, smoking, parity, newborn gender. Results: 10,3% RDS among preterm newborns was ascertained. University education of the mother decreases the odds for RDS by half, as well as considerable pregnancy weight gain (OR=0,61) and smoking before pregnancy (OR=0,57). Odds for RDS are increased by cesarean section (OR= 2,86) and adverse obstetrical history (OR=1,61). Cesarean section before labor vs. cesarean after onset of labor increased additionally odds for RDS (OR=1,46). Goodman Kruskal tau for joint occurrence of RDS in twins is 0,45. Conclusions: Certain health and social factors, among them: considerable pregnancy weight gain rate and university education of the mother, decreased the odds for RDS in preterm delivered neonates.