People often go to their childbirth classes in the evening, (or weekend), after a long day (or week) of work. While interested in the material and motivated to be there, responsibilities, other commitments and the stress of daily living along with being pregnant can make it hard for families to fully devote their attention to the material you are presenting.

The role of the childbirth educator is not only to share evidence based information, but to do so in a format that enhances learning and promotes recall in the future, when the families will be needing the information. Providing frequent opportunities for families to move, stretch and increase oxygen to their brain during your classes can help them to have a more positive experience along with increased learning retention.

Here are three suggestions for weaving activities into your childbirth classes to get bodies moving and oxygen flowing for maximum learning.

1. Invite families to stand, stretch and move their bodies in between topics. Encouraging people to do something physical while you transition to the next subject or activity supports oxygen flow to the brain and helps increase retention. ACOG has a great collection of eight movements that pregnant people can do standing, sitting or against a wall. Consider rotating through all eight, using just one with every transition time.

2. Actually incorporate movement into your learning activity. Consider doing a “sit-stand” activity where families stand up if they agree or think a statement is correct, and remain seated if they disagree or believe the information is incorrect. You can use a recent Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators idea for suggestions on what to cover in this activity or come up with your own topics to use.

3. Incorporate stations as the learning activity so families are moving around the room as they practice or learn. The subject area could be labor or pushing positions, pregnancy exercises, newborn topics (bathing, diapering, baby wearing, for example), or any other content where families move through a circuit with stations that cycle families through a variety of learning areas. The movement helps get the oxygen flowing with breaks for learning in between.

You may also want to check out this blog post on Sharon Bowman’s website – “5 Ways to Add Movement to Your Virtual Classes” if you are teaching online. 

Doing something as simple as inviting families to move their bodies inbetween learning activities or integrating movement as part of your curriculum will increase student satisfaction as well as support learning and retention for your childbirth class families. Consider taking a few minutes to review your class plans with an eye to getting families up and moving during your time together.

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