What researchers have known for decades, now available to every parent. Explore the science, watch the series, and download guides built on nearly five decades of peer-reviewed research.
The foundation. What connection actually is, why it matters more than any parenting technique, and what the research shows about how it shapes your child's brain, heart, and nervous system from birth.
The science behind OurConnect does not rest on a single researcher or institution. It draws on a broad body of converging work from across developmental psychology, neuroscience, and pediatric medicine.
The Welch Emotional Connection Screen builds on this converging body of work, from Carter's oxytocin research to Tronick's mutual regulation model to Porges' Polyvagal Theory, adding a validated observational tool that makes the quality of parent-child connection measurable for the first time. OurConnect brings these decades of research together into a single platform designed for families.
Emotional connection is not a psychological concept alone. It is a biological event. The vagus nerve, which links the brain to the heart, gut, and other organs, is the pathway through which a parent's regulated presence is transmitted to a child's body in real time. This is the science behind co-regulation, and it is what the Connection Checkup is designed to observe and strengthen.
The quality of emotional connections between a child and their caregivers, known as relational health, is now recognized as one of the strongest predictors of long-term health and wellbeing. Pediatric care is shifting to reflect this.
For decades, child development science focused primarily on cognitive and neurological milestones. The emerging consensus is that the relational environment a child grows up in shapes those outcomes just as profoundly, influencing brain development, cardiovascular health, stress regulation, immunity, sleep, and long-term behavioral and social outcomes.
Until now, families have had no way to measure, track, or strengthen their relational health. The Connection Checkup changes that.
Short, research-grounded guides on the moments that matter most. Free to download, no account required.
Published in Frontiers in Psychology by Dr. Martha G. Welch and Robert J. Ludwig, this paper establishes the biological pathway through which parents and children regulate one another's autonomic state. The mechanism begins in gestation and continues after birth through voice, touch, eye contact, and presence. Open access and available to anyone.
Read the full paper ↗Four additional video series are in development. Register your interest and we will let you know when they are available.
Understand and strengthen the emotional connection between you and your child, backed by nearly five decades of peer-reviewed science.
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