The Role of Prenatal Communication in Young Couples’ Depression and Relationship Security Across the Transition to Parenthood

Over the past 50 years, family structures have become more flexible. Unwed parenthood has become an important feature of our society, and most young parents want to have stable relationships, regardless of their marital status. This chapter examines young unmarried couples’ psychological and interpersonal risk and protective factors across the transition to parenthood, with a focus on predicting postpartum depression (PPD) and couples’ relationship security. We found that the risks for depression and relationship security were interrelated. For example, expectant mothers who reported prenatal depression were at increased risk for postpartum depression, but that risk was diminished if a mother’s relationship with the father of the child felt secure. Mothers were also at increased risk for postpartum depression if, during her pregnancy, both she and her partner engaged in high rates of hostility or low rates of warm communications. Additionally, analyses designed to assess if communication behaviors between young expectant parents moderated their adjustment to parenthood indicated that higher rates of hostile communication increased the risk for postpartum depression in mothers and increased the risk for relationship insecurity in fathers. Based on these findings, we make some recommendations regarding a relationship-focused approach to perinatal care.