Prenatal Violence in Couples Leads to Poorer Parenting

The time immediately after birth is critical to the good development of a child, experts say. Parents need to be on their best behavior, and have to work together as a team. A new study finds that aggression within the couples, prior to birth, tends to make the two poorer parents, on average.

While this appears to be a rather obvious finding, it wasn't until now that scientists could be certain a causal link was there. Relationship violence should not be accepted in any disguise, but should especially be avoided among new parents.

“The results suggest that working with couples to curtail or prevent violence in their relationships before the birth of their child may have positive implications for the development of co-parenting relationships after the child is born,” the Penn State research team explains.

The work suggests that doctors should pay attention to signs of prenatal violence and risk in patients coming in for regular visits. Do you think doctors should do that? Why?