Partnership after the child's birth

The thesis deals with the topic of a relationship after the birth of a child. The arrival of a child represents an important milestone in couples’ lives because it also brings forth many changes which require the partners to adjust to a family life of three, which also has an impact on their relationship. The theoretical part begins with a definition of a domestic or intimate relationship, is followed by a description of the development of a relationship, the definition of similarities and differences between a romantic love and that of a couple, and it is rounded off by the significance of a child for the couple’s relationship. The second chapter deals in detail with the transition from a dyad to a triad, which means the expansion of a relationship community with a new family member. The following topics are presented in a chronological order: the pregnancy period and how it’s perceived by the couple, the feelings of future mothers and fathers and the changes that occur during the pregnancy in the relationship between the two partners. This is followed by a part focusing on the birth of the child, where the presence of the partner during labour is mentioned, the possible changes in the couple’s relationship after the child’s arrival are presented and the possible postpartum challenges that might cause certain difficulties are indicated. In the conclusion of this part, the extensive potential causes of partners’ distress are stated. These speak of two periods: the planning of a child and the period after the child has been born. The last part of the theoretical part provides a short description of two different techniques of solving conflicts which, according to experts, contribute to the continuation of a good relationship. The empirical part is based on a qualitative research which was composed of half structured interviews of two couples with small children. The acquired responses were processed descriptively and the results are presented in the form of tables, on which the interpretation of the responses of the two interviewed couples is based on. The goal of this research was to find the solution to the following questions: how and in what way the birth of child influences a couple’s relationship; which influences and needs that are connected to the birth of a child can cause the couple’s distress; how can the couples successfully face their problems; what can be done as a prevention in order to ensure a stronger relationship. The research confirmed that the birth of a child does cause a lot of changes that may produce various types of distress, which do, however, depend on the individual couples since they differ in the way they perceive and face the changes in a relationship