Talk

I know people who've done it and it's never ended well

Nope the opposite. Baby's are hard and cause stress . We split up a number of times then finally when kids 4 and 1. In my opinion worse thing to do sorry

Not ime I'm afraid. At best it allows people to coast together until the children are old enough to leave. Sucks.

I've never known it to work out for anyone...and I is old .

Their relationship isnt terrible, just a bit unequal it seems. He's a really nice man who would be a great dad, but i just worry i suppose

I'd be concerned too.

Even the strongest relationships find a new baby testing.

Definitely not in my experience.

Our plaster baby is now 7 .... I adore him. Marriage was in trouble before then.

In terms of trade off, he's been worth it and then some.

Difficult and no way to tell for certain.

Part of my worry is that he is older than her and possibly more set in his ways. Thanks for the responses everyone

Your friend is delusional. Having a baby is very hard on even the best relationships.

God no. Totally the opposite I'm sorry to say.

No I've never heard of it working. Just adds to the casualty count.

No and why bring a baby into a difficult relationship? to fix it? Why put that pressure on an unborn life that will have totally separate needs from that of your friend and her partner.
Babies are hard word and the work keeps changing as they grow never exactly becoming easier.
It also changes the expectations of both people in relationship their responsibilities are no longer primarily towards each other.

This isn't your "friend" is it ?

Oh and one or two sleep deprived parents with a colicky newborn certainly brings no one closer together!

I gave an actual out loud hollow laugh when I read your thread title.

No. Having a baby did not make my difficult relationship better.

No, it's like throwing a hand grenade into your relationship.

The commonest time for a relationship to flounder is after the birth of a baby when you are both so sleep deprived and think you are having a harder time than your dp. So the resentment builds...

Having a baby magnifies all the problems in your relationship and worsens your own worst traits, in my experience.

Nope nope nope

At absolute best it can give them a few months closer if they both enjoy looking at baby stuff and making plans then when the baby comes and sleepless nights set in and one parent wants to go out and carry in as they were with no change to their lives/routine the other gets resentful and the arguments start there and then the relationship gets a whole lot worse

100% no way

Good God no. Just, no. Absolutely not.

Absolutely not. We had a rock solid relationship before. Literally 8 years with never a cross word. Since we had the kids there's been plenty of cross words borne out of tiredness and frustration. Still together and still love each other but there's sadly niggles that weren't there before. We had a nightmare nonsleeping baby... reflux, colic etc. It's straining.

The baby wasn't planned
Hmm...I wouldn't be so sure, after all, she thinks he's losing interest in her...
I hope for the child's sake things work out but not convinced.