Childbirth Education Games

Signs of Labor

• How can you teach moms to recognize when they&'re in labor? This game does just that. Start off by making up index cards or large post-it notes listing different symptoms of labor. Your descriptions should be simple--don&'t worry about using medical terms.On a board list three categories titled, "Pre-Labor," "Positive Labor," and "Definite Labor." You&'ll use the board details to explain to parents and moms that there are several symptoms that might indicate labor is starting and can go on for several days, while others indicate you&'re definitely in labor.
  Hand out the cards or post-it notes and ask them to tape their cards under the category that best describes it. Once everyone has placed their cards, discuss their selections and teach students about the actual signs of labor. Ask the participants to compare their original selections with the actual indicators of labor, and talk about the differences.

Length of Labor Dice Game

• This game causes participants to think about the unpredictability of how long their labor will last. Get three sheets of paper, 12 dice, three coins, and three markers to write with. Assign everyone to three small groups where they&'ll discuss how they might cope with labor. Afterward have each group make up an imaginary woman&'s name, collect a marker, four dice, one coin, and a big piece of paper that has a fill-in-the-blank sentences. Participants must fill-in the blanks by rolling the die and recording the number in the blank. By the time the game is over, everyone should realize that labor length is random and unpredictable. It should inspire them to count on being flexible as a response to not knowing how long it might last. See the reference for the list of fill-in-the-blank instructions and additional resources for this game.

Ice Exercise

• Labor contractions can be uncomfortable so this exercise uses ice to stimulate discomfort as a way to manage contractions when mom goes into labor. Ask participants to collect an item they can focus on to distract them from the discomfort, like a picture of the ultrasound or a favorite CD to listen to. Pass out cups of ice, and set up a timer. Instruct everyone to place a piece of ice on their tongue until the timer goes off. Don&'t tell them how long the timer is set to. Dads can participate, too, to get an idea of what mom must practice while in labor. The cold ice has a tendency to almost sting, causing a natural reaction to spit it out--but the students must focus on the item they selected as a distraction to that natural reaction and urgency. Each time, set the timer to go longer and longer. The mom who lasts the longest without spitting out the ice is the winner. If you&'re teaching a class over a course of weeks, you may want to do this each meeting so the mom&'s can build up a tolerance to the icy discomfort as practice for the real thing.