The anticipation of having a baby is often regarded as a joyous event in the life of a couple, and yet the transition to parenthood usually involves profound transitions and challenges in the couples' intimate relationship. Further complicating things, the perinatal period is when women are most vulnerable to mood and anxiety disorders, with perinatal depression being the number one medical complication of the postpartum period. Thankfully, a brief intervention has been developed to strengthen couples' relationships called The Before Baby Relationship Checkup. It's offered during pregnancy to help ease the transition to parenthood and reduce the risk of perinatal mood disorders. We're excited about this new service for new mothers, and we're "chick chatting" with Dr. Ellen Darling to learn more.

Who is Ellen Darling, PhD?

Dr. Ellen Darling is a clinical psychologist in Providence, RI, specializing in couples therapy, young adult mental health, and perinatal mental health. She holds a PhD from Clark University, where she trained at the Center for Couples and Family Research. Dr. Darling is passionate about guiding couples through challenges, including intimacy difficulties, alienation, communication impasses, chronic conflict, infidelity, parenthood issues, and other periods of transition. She practices Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT), an evidence-based approach that identifies patterns that keep partners disconnected and, in doing so, offers new possibilities for empathy and change.

What Did We Discuss?

In this episode, we chat with Ellen about the Before Baby Relationship Checkup. This checkup is a couples intervention specifically designed to address maternal mental health by screening pregnant women for early detection and decreasing primary risk factors. Here are several of the questions that we covered:

Ellen's Resources

• ellendarlingphd.com

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