Curriculum Topic: Individual Activity, Virtual Friendly
Activity Type: Shared Decision-Making, Healthy Birth Practice 4, Medical Interventions
Supplies: Folders on each of the medical interventions and medications you wish to discuss: AROM, IV Fluids, Induction Options, Fetal Monitoring, Analgesic Pain Medication, Epidural, Nitrous Oxide, Episiotomy, Vacuum Extractor/Forceps, etc..
Recommendations and news releases from professional organizations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) are especially helpful. Handouts on the risks and benefits of many interventions by Childbirth Connection are available online. Lamaze members can also access handouts about several interventions on the Lamaze website under Teaching Resources.
Instructions:
Divide the class into small groups to “research” common medical interventions. Assign each group an intervention and give the group a folder with resources about that intervention. Resources should include short summaries of current research and both pros and cons about the intervention. After a designated number of minutes, each group can give their recommendation regarding the intervention to the whole class. Discussion will follow.
Talking Points:
By using the BRAIN questions (Benefits, Risks/Realities, Alternatives, Intuition, and Now? When?) while discussing possible medical interventions and medications, emphasizes the importance of Shared Decision Making. It is important that the birthing person feels part of the decision-making process and is given correct information to make informed choices with proper and realistic expectations.
Modifications:
- Even if you do not use this activity in class, you may want to have folders on various interventions for interested students to “check out” and take home.
- Internet Search: Ask students in your class to volunteer to research common interventions on the web. Each volunteer (or volunteer pair) will take one topic such as epidural analgesia or fetal monitoring. The volunteers will search for information about their assigned topic and report back to the class the following week. A large group discussion with time for questions and answers can follow each “report.” If you do this activity, be sure to include a discussion about the credibility of websites.
Reference: Adapted from the Lamaze Toolkit
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