Happy prenatal relationships, healthy postpartum mothers: a prospective study of relationship satisfaction, postpartum stress, and health.

Major life transitions, such as the arrival of a new baby, can be stressful, and therefore, costly to one's health. Being in a satisfying romantic relationship has been previously linked with better health, perhaps because it provides access to a bank of psychosocial resources. The objective of the present research was two-fold. First, we examined whether prenatal relationship satisfaction benefitted mothers' postpartum health. Second, we examined whether this association was mediated by reduced postpartum stress. Pregnant women ( = 431) were drawn from a larger prospective pregnancy and birth cohort study. Participants reported on their relationship satisfaction, perceived stress, and perceived health at two time points: 24-26 weeks of gestation and 6 months postpartum. Greater prenatal romantic satisfaction predicted enhanced perceived postpartum health, and reduced perceived postpartum stress appeared to mediate this link. This research demonstrates that greater prenatal relationship satisfaction is associated with better postpartum health and provides evidence for one potential mechanism for this link: the reduction of perceived postpartum stress. Thus, assessments of women's prenatal relationship satisfaction may help identify those who are at higher risk of experiencing poor postpartum health. Implications for interventions are discussed.