John Gottman began his research on couples having children in 1985, following 20 previous years of research on couples and marriage. The Bringing Baby Home Study began in 1999 as a small pilot study designed by John M. Gottman, PhD and Alyson F. Shapiro, PhD. This study later grew into a full-scale research evaluation that was concluded in 2005, when the youngest of the research participants was 2 1/2 to 3-years-old. The BBH program has been evaluated through random clinical trial research involving 159 families. Each family was randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group received both a two-day BBH workshop and subsequently, attended 12 weeks of a support group. A second group only received the two-day BBH workshop that they attended shortly before the birth of their baby. The third group, the control group, did not receive either the BBH workshop or the support groups. The control group was offered the workshop following the completion of the study.

By following these new families over the course of three years, Gottman, Shapiro, and colleagues have determined the effects of each BBH Program component on familial and parental relationships, and ultimately, on the developing children. As a result of this research, The Gottman Institute has developed the BBH Program which includes the Couple’s Workshop, the Program Sections, Support Groups, and the Beyond Bringing Baby Home Program. Each of these tools is being used to make the research findings available to the public.