Prenatal Expectations and Postpartum Reality: How Gender Egalitarianism in Infant Care Division Shapes Parenting Stress and Relationship Functioning

Prior research has found that mothers report greater relationship satisfaction when couples divide infant care more equally, but less is known about how parents arrive at their division of infant care. The present study examines the expectations for infant care that first-time coparents formulate together during pregnancy, how these expectations compare to their reported division of infant care at six months postpartum, how these expectations differ by the gender of the parent, and how they influence the couple’s postpartum wellbeing. A sample of 93 heterosexual, cohabitating couples expecting their first child participated in two discussion tasks—one during pregnancy and another at approximately six months postpartum—focused on the division of infant care. Couples completed an adapted version of the Who Does What scale (Cowan & Cowan, 1988) together. Couples on average predicted a more egalitarian division of infant care during pregnancy than they achieved after birth. Fathers both expected and reported a more equal division of labor than did mothers. A more equal division of postpartum infant care was associated with lower parenting stress for both parents and higher relationship satisfaction for mothers, but not for fathers. Couples who more accurately predicted their division of infant care reported higher relationship satisfaction at postpartum. Exploratory analyses revealed a curvilinear relationship between prenatal discussion specificity and expectation accuracy, such that parents who were moderately specific were most accurate. Understanding how prenatal expectations differentially shape parenting stress and relationship functioning for mothers and fathers has important implications for both practice and policy.