Setting children up for success starts before they’re even born. Ellen Darling, Ph.D. ’16, developed the Before Baby Relationship Checkup — adapted from the Marriage Checkup created by Clark psychology Professor James Córdova — to strengthen relationships between parents who are expecting a child. On this episode of Challenge. Change., Darling explains how bettering a birthing parent’s mental health improves social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes for babies.

“You’re influencing a whole system. By improving mom’s health, she’s more able to attend to, and be attuned to, the developing infant,” Darling says. “You’re impacting a whole other generation and getting that generation off to a good start.”

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Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson and Andrew Hart for Clark University. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.