Bringing Baby Home: A Relationship Workshop for Expecting Couples and New Parents
Bringing Baby Home is an evidence-based and research-tested program that gives couples proven ways to maintain a satisfying relationship and positive marriage after baby is born.
Your Marriage is Important to You.
It can stay that way, even after baby is born.
No matter if your marriage is super-solid or you know it could use a little work, attending a Bringing Baby Home workshop can help.
You’ll learn simple but powerful steps to strengthen your friendship and effectively resolve problems. We’ll go in-depth on the building blocks to a strong, connected and happy family. You’ll leave with strategies and specific ways to nurture your most important relationships – your partner and your child.
Having a Baby Brings Big Changes (and Challenges)
Most couples imagine life with new baby as a blissful time full of loving moments. Which is why it’s surprising to hear that nearly 70% of couples experience a significant drop in their relationship satisfaction and a major increase in conflict and hostility.
But you can stay friends after having a baby.
Learn the Secrets of Successful Couples
Bringing Baby Home was created by relationship experts Drs. John and Julie Gottman. They’ve been studying marriage and couples for nearly four decades. When they saw that so many couples had significant marital problems within three years of having a baby, they designed Bringing Baby Home to address the specific concerns and struggles of new parents.
In this program, the Gottmans’ share what happy couples do to keep their relationships on track and the common things many couples do (or don’t do) that hurt their relationships.
Their ultimate purpose of the workshop is to improve the quality of life for babies and children by strengthening the relationship of the parents.
The Benefits of Bringing Baby Home
The Gottman Institute has also studied the effectiveness of the Bringing Baby Home program itself. Their research has also shown that couples who’ve taken a Bringing Baby Home workshop have:
- significantly lower rate of postpartum mood disorders and depression
- a higher level of relationship satisfaction
- a decrease in relationship hostility
- a decreased likelihood of divorce
These couples also experience positive results related to infant development and temperament, parent-baby interactions and father involvement.
Plus, research tells us that when children are exposed to low conflict, high harmony households their brains develop differently than children exposed to a lot of conflict.
Learn more about Dr. Gottman’s parenting research.
What You’ll Learn at a Bringing Baby Home Workshop
In this highly interactive class you’ll get to practice what you’re learning with fun and engaging exercises for you to do together as a couple and some as a group to reinforce the concepts.
Each section of the class covers a building block of Dr. Gottman’s concept of the Sound Relationship House.
+ Moving Through Time Together
You’ll look at how you use your time now and figure out a plan after baby is born.
+ Building Love Maps
Learn how to connect with each other in deeper ways and how to connect with your new baby.
+ Share Fondness and Admiration
Find out how to avoid the 4 most destructive communication patterns and build a solid friendship.
+ Turn Towards Each Other
Learn about the concept of the emotional bank account and the simple ways to make more deposits and less withdrawals.
+ Maintain the Positive Perspective
We’ll go over ways you can focus more on the positive qualities of your partner and relationship, instead of the negative. Sounds easy, but it’s really difficult when you’re sleep deprived!
+ Reducing Stress, Self-Soothing & Taking Breaks
Learn the importance of recognizing when you need a break (from each other and from baby) and how to support each other to reduce the effects of day-to-day stress.
+ Four Steps of Constructive Problem Solving
We walk you through the proven ways to effectively solve problems and give you lots of practice time for each step so you can get to a compromise on a real-life issue.
+ Honoring Mothers and Fathers
A powerful discussion that gives you time to reflect on how you’d like to be as a parent.
+ The Importance of Fathers and Partners
Dads and partners play a vital role in their child’s life. We examine the research and give dads a chance to think about specific ways they want to be involved with their kids.
+ Recognizing Postpartum Mood Disorders
We’ll talk about what to look for, how to get help and how partners can support mom.
+ Intimacy and Romance
Yes, we’re talking sex. We share some of Dr. Gottman’s ideas on how to get your sex life back after baby and then give you tips on how to have this sensitive discussion and time to create a plan.
+ Connect with your Children and Create Shared Meaning
We finish up with ways to better understand and connect with your children so you can establish a strong relationship early on. Then we leave you with ways to create your family’s legacy by identifying your values, what’s important to you and what you want to pass on to future generations.
The work you do in this class will not just prepare your relationship for parenthood but it’s setting up a foundation of love that will support your family for your lifetime and beyond.
Allison Burch Coaching 