The present study aimed to analyze the marital relationship, during the transition to parenthood, from two perspectives: each couple's evaluation of their relationship in the different moments of the transition and the communicational interaction sustained during the interviews. It consisted of a longitudinal, collective case study, which comprised five moments: the last trimestre of pregnancy and the third, the eighth, the twelfth and the eighteenth month of the baby. The sample was composed of four adult couples, with ages ranging from 20-30, who were expecting their first child and were contacted on pregnancy groups from hospitals of the city of Porto Alegre. In each stage, couples were contacted in their homes and interviewed together. The data analysis was carried out through qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The results of the study shows that a central factor for understanding marital relationship in the transition to parenthood is the quality of the marital relationship established before the transition.
Marital relationship; Transition to parenthood; First baby's birth
