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Protecting Your Relationship When Your First Child Arrives
A baby changes everything, including the two of you.
Based on Gottman's Bringing Baby Home research, prepare for the shifts a first child brings: less sleep, new roles, more conflict, and how to stay a team through all of it.
Next session
Thursday, January 7 at 10:00 AM PST
90 minutes · $129
- Format
- Live online workshop
- Duration
- 90 minutes
- Facilitator
- Sabrina Briceño, LPCC
- Price
- $129
Designed for expecting couples. Individuals are welcome too.
Does this sound familiar?
You're excited, and quietly worried about what happens to "us."
You've already started keeping score about who will do what.
Friends warned you the first year is hard on couples.
What we'll explore
- What research shows happens to couples after a first baby.
- How to divide new roles without resentment.
- How to handle conflict when you're both exhausted.
- Small rituals that keep friendship and intimacy alive.
The research behind it
This curriculum draws on established relationship research, not generic advice. A few of the findings we build on:
About two-thirds of couples report a significant drop in relationship satisfaction in the three years after their first baby arrives.
Alyson Shapiro, John Gottman & Sybil Carrère (2000)
Couples who took a Bringing Baby Home workshop kept their relationship quality steady and showed less hostility, while comparison couples declined.
Gottman & Shapiro, Bringing Baby Home randomized trial
Expressing fondness and admiration for each other before the birth predicted which couples stayed satisfied afterwards.
Shapiro, Gottman & Carrère (2000)
Unspoken differences in expectations about who does what are among the strongest sources of new-parent conflict.
Carolyn & Philip Cowan, When Partners Become Parents (1992)
What you'll leave with
- A shared picture of the year ahead, without surprises.
- A conversation guide for dividing care and housework.
- A few small daily habits that protect your connection.
Plus a reflection workbook, one concrete action to practice, and a seven-day follow-up exercise by email.
Meet your facilitator
Sabrina Briceño, LPCC
Licensed professional clinical counselor · Founder of Chapter
Sabrina turns current relationship research into plain words and practical skills, with warmth and without jargon.
She holds a Master's in Professional Clinical Counseling with a focus in social justice from the University of San Francisco, and has practiced in public and private settings in San Francisco and Denver.
Her work draws on the Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy and attachment research, and builds goal-setting and accountability into the work. She is licensed in California and Colorado, and holds space for clients of every identity.
Practical details
Each workshop is capped at 10 people max, so there is room for real conversation.
On your own or with someone
Come by yourself, or bring your partner, a friend or a family member. Nothing in the session assumes you're a couple.
Camera on or camera off
Keep your camera off if you'd rather listen than be seen. You can still type, and no one will single you out.
Participation is optional
Speak when you want to and pass when you don't. You're never called on.
No judgment
This is a room for learning, not performing. Share as little or as much as you like.
Reserve your spot
Payments in the preview are in test mode.
Anticipated Winter 2027 · Sonoma County & Online
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