Birth bag teaching ideas for your antenatal classes! As birth workers – doulas, midwives, student midwives or perinatal educators – we aim to prepare expectant parents for their birth experience, and part of that is packing the birth bag (aka hospital bag).
Birth bag teaching ideas for in-person classes
Show and tell
Ask each family to bring up to three items for their birth bag to the next class. During “show and tell”, they share their items and why they chose them.
Brainstorm
Split the class into similar-sized groups. For couples’ classes, I split into two or four groups, separating birthing parents from birth partners. Each group writes or draws the items they’d like to take to the birth – giving you one list for birthing parents and a separate list for birth partners! If you’d rather not use paper and pens, or want to set this as homework or a pre-course task, try a Mentimeter word cloud instead (see below).
Paperchase
Split the group into three and set out three sheets of flipchart paper and pens. I like to draw a suitcase outline on each and add a heading: birthing parent, birth partner or baby. Each group brainstorms on its sheet for two minutes, then moves on to the next sheet to add to it, and then to the last one.
Sorting game
My Hospital Birth Bag Sorting Game is a ready-made, no-prep way to get everyone talking about what to pack.
Birth bag teaching ideas for virtual classes
Birth bag scavenger hunt
A good old scavenger hunt is a great way to explore what might go in a birth bag! It gets clients thinking about what they need and would like, and gets them off their seats during a virtual course. I like to include it as part of the break: I share my screen with a short list of things that might be useful for the birth, then ask clients to grab a drink and a snack, go to the loo, and bring as many items as they can back to the screen within 15 minutes.
You’ll find my very long birth bag list in another blog post – pick a few items from it, or write your own short list!
Word search
A birth bag word search is another way to create engagement in online classes. I make mine on my husband’s website, add it to my slides, and ask parents-to-be to annotate the slide with what they find. Then we discuss what they would add to or remove from their birth bag.
Quick competition – show and tell
Like the scavenger hunt, I like to build this into a break. It’s far too easy to stay sat in one place during an online workshop, so this is another way to get clients moving and engaged!
Ask each couple or client to think about what they might need during the birth, and bring three items back to the screen – three items each, helpful to themselves, not their partner.
This is often the first time birth partners realise they need to look after themselves too, and may need some comfort items of their own.
Word cloud
Set up a word cloud on Mentimeter and ask clients to add their essential items. It’s a very engaging, fun and visual way to build a birth bag list together – and it’s anonymous! You can save the results as an image or PDF afterwards and send them out as a reminder or handout.
How do you teach the topic of birth bags in your childbirth preparation classes? Please share your ideas in the comments or email me!