Our new brochure is available! Please take a moment to tell us how you heard about us to download it and get the latest news from the Becoming Parents Program.
Zip code:
How did you learn about us?

Over the last decade researchers have learned a great deal about infants and the transition to parenthood. Unfortunately, this information has only been available to those reading scientific journals, rather than to parents who are dealing with the issues firsthand. Pamela Jordan, PhD, RN, from the Department of Family and Child Nursing at the University of Washington in Seattle, is a leading researcher on the transition to parenthood.

As an early investigator of the transition to fatherhood, she began with the question: “Why do men become less involved in the family after the birth of a baby?” After hearing the stories of hundreds of men, Dr. Jordan realized that men didn’t choose to become less involved, they had been marginalized from the moment their partners became pregnant.  “These dads were ‘laboring for relevance,’” said Dr. Jordan. “They longed to be seen as an integral part of their child’s life, but it was their partners who held the key to inviting them into parenthood.” Dr. Jordan subsequently expanded her research to include a variety of diverse families.

Drawing from over two decades of her research, she has developed and scientifically evaluated a program that combines knowledge and skills for first time parents. The Becoming Parents Program provides couples with survival skills for taking care of their couple relationship, taking care of themselves, relating to their baby, and dealing with the many ways becoming parents impacts their lives.  The transition to parenthood may be a time of joy and celebration, but it is also a time of increased vulnerability:

  • Half of new parent couples experience moderate to severe declines in marital satisfaction (Belsky & Kelly, 1994).
  • One-third to one-half of new parent couples experience as much marital distress as couples already in therapy for marital difficulties (Cowan & Cowan, 1995).
  • One-third or more of both mothers and fathers experience significant depression as they become parents (Cowan & Cowan, 1995; Jordan, 2000).

The Becoming Parents Program was developed to mitigate these negative effects, fortify the adult couple relationship, and prepare couples for success in the most important job they will ever have.

"If you’re having a baby, BPP will help give your baby the most important gift of all—parents who know how to keep their relationship happy, satisfying, and stable—the kind of relationship your baby can count on and learn from."
-Diane Sollee, director, Coalition for Marriage, Family, and Couples Education