Games and Activities for Childbirth Classes
I
grant permission to use any of this information, and any of these class
materials, in childbirth education classes. See details on my copyright policy here. All of
this material is free of charge, but if you find it a valuable resource, I
would encourage you to donate
what you consider a fair amount to the organization I teach for, Great Starts Birth and Family Education
in
Activities
described down lower on this page (just click on title to go directly to it): Onset of Labor Game, Brainstorming
Comfort Techniques for Early Labor, Epidural Role-Play,
Labor Rehearsal Options, Lift the Flap,
and a list of videos we use, with notes on the contents.
Activities
that can be found elsewhere on my website:
Icebreakers for Childbirth Classes. Some
ideas for icebreaker activities and warm-up activities, to help students get to
know each other, and feel more comfortable in class.
Pop Quiz Review of Onset of Labor
and Early Labor. (printable word doc, pdf) Use at the beginning of a class, in
small groups. One person reads the questions, group members work together to
come up with an answer, then flip over card to check answer. 10 minutes.
Labor “Cranium”: (printable Word doc, pdf) A game for reviewing and rehearsing
labor. Mixes together: a pop quiz, discussion of labor scenarios, and labor
rehearsal. (You could develop something even more like the board game Cranium
by having a charades section and a drawing/Pictionary section where they act
out and draw various items/topics associated with birth.) 30 – 60 minutes.
A Dice Game to Explore Normal Variations in the
Length of Labor. The goal of this game is a simple little game that gets
people interacting, and thinking about the random unpredictability of answering
the question: “how long will my labor be?” 10 minutes. Or can be combined with
variations presentation or with labor rehearsal.
Labor Scenarios for Practice (pdf)
Read scenario. Students identify where they think mom is in labor, then
they propose three things that might be helpful to her (a position, a breathing
technique, a comfort technique). They all then practice this. (I put up a Breathing and Comfort Poster (pdf) or the Road
Map of Labor poster to give them some hints about what options are
available.) 10 minutes.
Labor Variations Scenarios
for Discussions (pdf): Small group
discussion. One student reads scenario. They discuss how they would feel and what
they would do if this happened to them.
Breastfeeding Thank-You Notes: PDF Each card includes a cover picture of who’s
saying thank you (e.g. your baby, your banker, your child’s teacher, your
garbage man), a note on the inside summarizing the benefits to that person, and
footnotes on the back with statistics, citations of journal articles, and other
details. The file may print out in an unusual order, and you may need to
rearrange pages before photocopying double-sided on card stock. Can be used as
a display, or can have students read out loud in class.
Breastfeeding Myths and Truths
Game. PDF. Instructor passes out the
cards, each student reads a card out loud, says whether they think it’s true,
or whether they think it’s a myth. Instructor then gives more information about
the topic. 10 minutes.
Love Languages in Labor PDF. A
women’s magazine style quiz about learning what kinds of labor support are most
likely to be helpful for a mom based on her “love language” (physical touch,
encouraging words, gifts, acts of service, Presence) Homework.
Where Will You Breastfeed PDF.
Give one set to each mom. There are 9 cards asking “would you breastfeed
*here*”. They sort them into yes, no, maybe piles. Then discuss as a group. Goal
is to broaden their idea of where it might be OK to breastfeed. I got this idea
from someone else… I think it was Teri Schilling or Ann Tumblin.
Wellness in Pregnancy Postcards. PDF.
Can be used as a display (see Lift the Flap below). Or as a game: you read the
question out loud, the first person to volunteer an answer gets a candy or
other prize. Good way to cover mandatory information on topics like smoking,
alcohol, nutrition, and safer sex without having your students glaze over in
boredom, or turn off from being “lectured” to.
Birth Plan Card Sort. PDF.
There are many versions of this activity out there... This is mine. Each couple
in class is given a deck of cards representing options (e.g. Labor Begins on
its own / Labor induced on due date; No pain medication / epidural). They lay
out their choices representing their birth plan, then you help them determine
whether the plan is realistic (whether all the options they hope for are
available to them and compatible) and help them explore how they would feel if
they didn’t get some of what they wanted.
There’s lots of other good stuff in the homework
and handouts section that could be adapted for use in class.
Onset of Labor game. I have prepared a dozen
Post-It notes (the index card sized ones.) Each has on it a symptom such as
“Cramps” or “Pinkish Discharge from Vagina” or “Gush of Fluid from
Vagina.” During class, I draw a
continuum on the board, labeling the left side: “who knows”, the center
“probably” and the right side “definitely.” I introduce the idea of the
preliminary, possible, and positive signs of labor, as described in Pregnancy,
Childbirth, and the Newborn. I hand out the post-it notes, and each couple
reads a symptom out loud, then comes to the front of the room and sticks the
post-it note on to the continuum, guessing whether it’s a definite sign of
labor, or one of the more debatable signs. I then talk more about each symptom,
frequently illustrating with examples of what my doula clients have experienced
at the beginning of their labors. 15 minutes.
Brainstorming Comfort
Techniques for Early Labor: Before class, I put up big sheets of paper around the room,
labeled 1) Relaxing. List activities or environmental influences that help you
feel mellow and safe. 2) Getting moving. List things that motivate you to get
up and get active. 3) Distractions. List things that you do for fun, especially
things which help you forget about your worries. 4) Fun with baby: List things
you look forward to about parenting.
When students have arrived, I divide them up into small groups, and
tell them we’re doing an icebreaker to get to know each other better. I send
each group off to one of the lists to start brainstorming. I usually rotate
them to a second list after a few minutes. Then, I have them hang the posters
up in the front of the room, and we begin class, talking about early labor.
When it comes time to address comfort techniques for early labor, I point out
that the important things (beyond eating, drinking, and sleeping) are to
alternate: rest, relaxation, distraction from worries, and preparing to welcome
baby. I emphasize that there’s no special magical techniques, and that they
already know everything they need to know for early labor. I point to each of
the posters, and briefly go over how each of their brainstormed ideas would be
helpful during early labor. 10 minutes.
I have also done this with other categories. For example, if I’ve
just introduced Fear/Tension/Pain triangle, the three sheets say “Confidence
Builders to Reduce Fear/Relaxation Inducers to Reduce Tension/Physical Comforts
that Reduce Pain”.
Epidural Role-Play. Rather than lecturing on
epidural procedures and side effects, I do it as a role-play with props. I
introduce the basic info about what an epidural is, and what the benefits are.
Then I ask for a dad to volunteer to be my model (it’s funnier that way, plus
it doesn’t imply that any of the moms are more or less likely to choose
epidural). I walk through the whole process, and all the paraphernalia, and
what side effects they are monitoring for and trying to prevent. (I use some
real items, like the oxygen mask, but my “monitor” is just a couple of elastic
straps from the fabric store, and my “IV bottle” is a water bottle with a
ribbon attached)
The key to making this as powerful as possible is knowing your
statistics. For example, “the monitor is also monitoring your contractions.
Dilation tends to move more slowly after epidural (9 out of 10 research studies
have shown that labor will be longer overall with epidural than without). If
contractions slow down too much, then you’ll be given Pitocin to get them
moving again. (Pitocin is up to 2.8 times more likely with epidural than
without.)” I have a flip chart with the
side effects statistics listed on it that I put up nearby while we do the role play so I can refer to it from
time to time, and students see the information as well as hear it.
Also, when we’re all done, I put up a flip chart of: how to
minimize your risks with epidural. 20
minutes. Here’s my lesson
plan about the content I cover in this presentation.
Combined Epidural and Informed Consent Role Play. When I have enough time,
this works very well for illustrating how to advocate for yourself and your
partner. I roleplay a nurse coming in to do procedures, but don’t give them any
information about why I am doing them unless they ask for information. For
example:
Nurse: “OK, I’m going to put this blood pressure cuff on, and it
will check your blood pressure every 15 minutes for the rest of labor.” If they
don’t ask anymore, I leave it at that. If they ask “why do you need to monitor
my blood pressure so often?” Nurse: “Well, there’s a good chance your blood
pressure will drop after you’ve had the epidural.” Again, if they ask nothing,
I move on (or hint that they might want to ask more if they’re not asking on
their own). Students: “Why is it a problem for my blood pressure to drop?”
Nurse: “well, that may cause baby’s heart rate to drop.” Students: “And what
could that lead to?” Nurse: “Well, we may give you oxygen or medication to
bring your blood pressure back up, and see if baby’s heart rate improves.”
Students: “And what if the heart rate doesn’t improve? “ Nurse: “well,
sometimes we have to do a cesarean birth, if we aren’t sure that baby is doing
OK.” The key to making this work well is to have really talked before this
about informed consent, and advocacy, and how to ask questions until you feel
fully informed. Also, at the end of this, I put up a poster with all the information
on it that I wanted to make sure they got, that way if we missed anything in
the process of the role play, we can go over it at the end. 45 minutes.
Labor Rehearsal Options. 20 – 60 minutes.
1. Labor Stations. (Publisher
document) (PDF) I tape these posters up
around the room, then explain to the full class what each station is, what they
should do there, and what benefits that activity would give during labor. Then,
we spend about a half hour rotating through the stations: one couple is at each
station. They have one minute to read the poster and get ready, then we do the
comfort technique for a “one minute contraction” then rotate on to the next
station. The nice thing about this exercise is it allows them to practice lots
of ideas in a short amount of time. Be certain to emphasize that in labor, you
would never switch what you were doing with every single contraction, instead,
you would find something that worked, and stick with it for as long as it was
working. (If I have enough time, I have them read the poster for one minute,
practice for one minute, then spend one minute discussing with their partner
what worked about that technique, and what didn’t work for them.)
2. Instructor Guided
Walk-Through. (Publisher document)
(PDF)
I have the class gather in a circle around me, with their pillows, and
one chair per couple. I then walk them through, for each stage of labor: 1) a
verbal review of what that stage of labor looks like and what mom might need
from her support person. Then, we go through each of the posters, where I hold
it up to show them what position to do and tell them what technique to do.
Then, we do a one-minute contraction with that technique, then move on to the
next.
3. Video Review and Practice.
I show a video of a woman in early labor with her support person. Then I talk
with the class, verbally reviewing early labor and what they should be doing at
this stage, and I make notes on the board. Then we practice some of the
positions and comfort techniques they suggest. Then we do active labor, then
transition, then pushing, each with video, discussion, and practice. Goal:
seeing laboring women on the video helps to make the roleplayed practice
contractions a little more real, as they have more of a sense of what they’ll
be feeling like at that point in labor.
4. Students’ Choice Rehearsal.
Once when I observed a class series by a new instructor, Tawnya Ostrer, the way
she did her rehearsal on the final night was to basically say “I’m going to put
on music. Every couple minutes I’m going to announce that a contraction’s
beginning, and I’ll tell you when it’s passed. Go ahead and move around the
room, and try different positions, try different comfort techniques to cope
with each contraction. I’ll come around and give you feedback.” When she did
this, I groaned inwardly, thinking it would fail, and thinking that students need
more guidance than that. But… the students handled it marvelously, and it was a
great rehearsal! They had to really think about what they know about breathing
techniques, positions, etc. and come up with things to practice. I am certain
that those students will retain the information better since they had to come up with the ideas
rather than the instructor handing them the ideas. If you do this style of
rehearsal, you could put up some posters with ideas for positions and breathing
techniques in case they draw a blank. Here’s some sample posters. PDF
Media Moms or Media Images of Birth: At a birth class, ask “what
images of birth have you seen in the media? What do you think our cultural
attitudes toward birth are?” Discuss these, how realistic / unrealistic they
are, and what impact these ingrained beliefs can have on our ability to birth.
At a postpartum or newborn care class, ask “What are some mom/dad characters
you’ve seen on TV or in pop culture?” As they list them, ask what
characteristics these moms share, what kind of moms/dads they want to be, or
don’t want to be. This exercise works well for helping students begin to
develop their role identity as parents.
Lift the Flap games: these
can be put on tables for people to look at before class begins, or over break.
First, think up trivia questions. Write the answers on a 4x6 index card. Then
cover the answer up with a 3x5 post-it note. Write the question on the post-it
note. Students ask themselves the question, then check their own answers. Works
great for nutrition, pop quiz review of labor, baby development trivia, etc.
Another great game is to find pictures of babies showing different
cues: engagement, disengagement, tired cues, hunger cues, etc. Students guess
what baby is trying to say, and flip it over to find the answer. There’s a
great pre-made set of cards available here.
Videos: There are several
videos we use in our classes, and other videos which I have previewed for
varying reasons. I always take notes about content when I preview a video, so I
have put these up on the website, in case you would like to know details on
what any of these videos cover. Note, these are my informal notes on content…
not always complete, not always grammatically correct, always my personal
opinions about them. Videos include:
Aimee’s
birth (single mom, unmedicated birth, 8 minute video, Injoy, 1996)
Breastfeeding
Intensive (relatively inexpensive - $57, from Mother of 7, c. 2006)
Cesarean
Births (Injoy, 27 minutes, 3 women share their stories of unexpected
cesareans, 1995.)
First
Years Last Forever (covers brain development, bonding with baby, discipline
and self-esteem)
Jessica’s
birth (Injoy, 10 minutes, 2001. Hispanic mom, epidural, AROM, Pitocin)
Kim’s
Birth (Injoy, 1998, 11 minutes. Natural birth, lots of breathing
techniques)
Miracle
of Birth 2 (Injoy, 2002, 5 birth stories – we use this collection, rather
than using Aimee, Kim, Jessica, etc.)
Newborn
Care: A Guide to the First Six Weeks (Injoy, 2006)
Works
of Wonder (Vida, 2000, 4 birth stories, plus Stages of Labor, and
interventions content. Great collection)
All
games by Janelle Durham, inspired by various sources.