When Partners Become Parents : The Big Life Change for Couples

A look at the changes a relationship undergoes when a baby arrives draws on the candid stories of a wide variety of men and women to argue that the seeds of marital problems are often present long before the baby arrives

Cowan and Cowan's book is a helpful work for couples contemplating parenthood and for those already coping with the imposing challenges of first-time parenthood.
—CHOICE

This is simply the most important book on the prevention of divorce that has ever been written....Practitioners need to master what is in this book. Researchers need to begin where they left off, because the field of precision family research is born here, with the publication of this book. This is the scientific story of the birth of the family.
—John Gottman, Ph.D.
University of Washington

In this splendid book, Carolyn and Philip Cowan provide us with new and invaluable knowledge. This is a major contribution.

This wise, wonderful, and engagingly written book is must reading for every couple contemplating parenthood, for those who are raising young children, and for the professionals to whom they turn for help. In taking us into the lives of couples as they grapple with the enormous changes that come with the transition to parenthood, the Cowans offer us a sophisticated and compelling portrait of the strains that every family experiences at this life stage.

This is a timely application of first-rate scholarship to one of the most important issues of the day.

Undoubtedly the definitive book describing the stresses and joys associated with the transition to parenthood. Sensitive to the challenges, feelings, and role changes of each family member, it will provide parents and professionals with insight into the factors that facilitate successful adaptation to becoming a parent or that lead to marital breakdown when confronting this difficult transition.
—E. Mavis Hetherington, Ph.D.
University of Virginia