New babies, fertility issues, pregnancy, surrogacy, baby loss, and our baby having health challenges can all affect our relationships with our partners. They all present challenges that can really test our couple bond and bring in issues that we never realised where there.

New Babies:

The adjustment to becoming a parent will raise different issues for everyone in the relationship, and sometimes that can be hard to navigate without a bit of support to tease out what is coming up for everyone involved.

Or sometimes it will raise old traumas that we didn’t even know were there , and can affect how we relate to each other. Counselling can help identity any issues, and work with them to bring you both back to a place you feel OK with.

Infertility:

Difficulty with conceiving, including all the medical procedures that might be involved, can have a massive impact on your ability to connect with your partner, especially if you are both grieving or struggling in different ways.

Pregnancy:

We don’t often think of pregnancy as a time when couples might struggle, but it is often a time where a lot of psychological changes are taking place. Both partners have very different experiences of pregnancy, and this can bring up emotions in ways you maybe don’t expect.

Surrogacy:

In surrogacy, there maybe more than a couple involved. This brings additional relationship challenges, not only to the couple who are waiting for the baby, but also the person carrying the pregnancy. Negotiating all these different emotional and practical needs can take some careful thinking through, and therapy can provide a place for this, with either the couple, the entire unit, or individual work.

Baby Loss:

Surviving the loss of a baby, whether during a pregnancy or afterwards, has a profound impact on couples. Having support and space to grieve is essential. If that can’t be found easily within the people around you, therapy might provide a space for that.

Babies with health challenges:

When our baby has a health challenge, the feelings evoked are huge and can take a while to untangle in a way we can manage. If partners are struggling in different ways, it can be easy for this to be something that prevents them from coming together again as parents.

If any of these resonate for you, it might be that relationship therapy might be useful to help you and your partner/s find a way to create a way through together and to reestablish a secure bond.