Centering Session Ideas and Contents

Centering Pregnancy: Session Content

Interactive Activities

1. Goal setting and community building

Example Topic: nutrition

Other topics: personal goals, communication, substance use

Have the group come up with a list of foods they eat regularly that they think or know 1) are healthy and 2) aren’t so healthy. Come up with as many as possible—more than one from each person on each list is ideal. Discuss the foods on the list and generally go into nutrition, portion size, etc. 

Alternate activity: count off by 3’s or 4’s, then have each small group come up with a menu for a meal or snack (i.e., one group do breakfast, one do lunch, one do dinner, and one do snack). Then have the group come back together and have each small group share their meal; discuss.

After each activity, have each participant pick one thing that s/he will change about her/his diet. Set small, realistic goals. Participants could share “pledge” as go around the circle, or could pair up and discuss what s/he will change with a partner. You may want to start the next session with a go-around of sharing how the behavior change went; you could also suggest that participants call a “buddy” during the time before the next session to check in about progress.

2. Hot potato

Example Topic: breastfeeding

Other topics: labor, parenting, postpartum changes

Stand in a circle. Leader holds a ball while she explains the exercise to the group. Leader starts off exercise by asking what they’ve heard or wondered about breastfeeding. Leader throws ball to the first person who responds. Then there is a discussion on the topic. This woman then asks the group her question/concern e.g. “I’m afraid breastfeeding will hurt.” She throws the ball to the woman who initiates the conversation. Discussion ensues. The ball goes around for as long as people want it to. Those who do feel nervous getting and tossing the ball, can still participate in the conversation once it gets going. But those with a lot of concerns can get their needs met without dominating the conversation b/c they are limited by the rules of the game in terms of when they talk.

3. Red Light, Green Light

Example Topic: Common Discomforts

Another variation on a children’s game. The group stands in a line on one side of the room. The facilitator asks “Whoever has (insert discomfort here) often take two steps forward, whoever has (same discomfort) sometimes, take one step forward.” Facilitate a discussion around that discomfort. Continue on through the list, focusing on the ones that women brought up on the mat or during social time. The person with the most discomforts will be further across the room than the person with the fewest spread and frequency of discomforts. Note the variation in the group. 

3. Modified Red Light, Green Light 

Example Topic: relationships

(for use when people can pair up with their partners/postpartum support people. Can also ask unpartnered people before the group to bring the person that will help them in the postpartum period. Not good for groups who have people who won’t have a “partner” for the exercise.) 

Pairs (pregnant women and their support person) line up standing opposite each other. Partners on one side and moms on the other side. Leader picks one thing off the Relationship SAS and reads out loud, “changing diapers…..whose job is this? mom, her partner/support, or both?” Each person in the pair responds in the following way: takes one step forward if answer is “me,” takes one step back if “the other,” or stays in place if “both”. Both people in the pair respond to each question according to the rules above. Continue with different responsibilities. In the end, couples have a visually powerful idea about how closely they will work together, divide up responsibilities fairly or equally, or how discordant they are is far apart. If couples are far apart and shifted far away from the starting line, this suggests they disagree on many items, that the burden was more on one person. If couples are more or less unchanged in terms of how far apart they are, this suggests they have divided the jobs mostly evenly. If they are practically hugging, this suggests a lot of mutual “me” answers and the couple can go home knowing theirs is a “good” problem to have…need to sit down and give some tasks to the other person. 

The visual is both the amount of space between the couples but also their shift away from the central, start line. If they are shifted towards the mom’s side, then the partner has taken on more than the mom. If they are shifted towards the partner’s side of the start line, then the pregnant woman has taken on more than the partner. 

4. “I Spy With My Little Eye…”

Example Topic: infant and toddler safety

Stage your Centering room (could be used for Pregnancy or for Parenting) so that it has some hazards for young children: exposed electrical sockets, a napkin hanging off the edge of a table that has drinking glasses on it, etc.

Have group take turns silently picking a hazard in the room, and trying to get the others to guess what s/he is talking about by naming the item’s color, i.e. “I spy with my little eye something that is white” for an electrical socket. Group then can discuss the hazard and what to do about it.

5. Agree/Disagree Cards or Sticks

Topics: danger signs in pregnancy, preterm labor , signs/symptoms of pregnancy, old wives’ tales around these topics, oral health

Have each participant come up with old wives’ tales about what causes preterm labor and the group would decide whether they agree/disagree (use the agree/disagree sticks for this).

6. Postpartum Support-Building Activity

Example Topic: postpartum

Other topics: support

Maybe do small groups – have members of group write on index cards the nice/supportive things they’ve done for others after they’ve had babies (i.e., take them a meal, babysit an older sibling). Tape all of the cards to the wall or to a board.

The group could then read through all of the cards (or not, depending on literacy issues). Then, each woman gets to pick a card that represents something she’d like done for her after her baby’s born. Might lead to some community-building activities, as the group might end up offering to provide these things for each other.

7. The Wind Blows (El Viento Sopla) For…

Example Topic: common discomforts

Other topics: breastfeeding, relaxation measures

List common discomforts on the board, have group identify how many have each discomfort frequently (show of hands as read discomfort, everyone stand who has discomfort, etc.). Then the facilitator stand up – rest of the group stay in the circle, with no extra chairs – facilitator say “the wind blows for everyone who’s wearing red (any such identifiers)”. Then everyone who’s wearing red plus the person who just spoke have to find a new seat (kind of like musical chairs). The one left standing picks one of the discomforts she’s experienced and speaks briefly about her experience with it – what it feels like, what’s helped, etc. Then you can either move on to the next “the wind blows for” right away OR have the rest of the group give their ideas about how to relieve the discomfort before moving on to the next one.

8. Charades

Example Topic: common discomforts

Other topics: relaxation measures

Have group fill out SAS. Have each person select their most common or concerning discomfort and write it down on a piece of paper. Or, you can make laminated cards with a picture of each discomfort, and have them pick that way. Put the papers/pictures in a bowl. Have women select from the bowl and have them act it out until the group guesses what the discomfort is. The group then discusses the discomfort and potential comfort measures. Can also break into different teams and make it a game.

9. Red Rover

Example Topic: common discomforts

Other topics: breastfeeding, birth control, pain management in labor,

relaxation measures

This is a variation on a game played by children in the US. Have the group stand to one side of the room. The facilitator(s) stands on the other side of the room and calls out “Red Rover, Red Rover, whoever has (insert discomfort here) often come over.” Individuals who have the discomfort then “come over” to the other side of the room. Then facilitate a discussion about that discomfort. Reunite the group onto the same side of the room and begin again with another discomfort.

10. Debate

Example Topic: breastfeeding

Other topics: parenting (discipline, spoiled children, sibling rivalry, infant abuse), postpartum depression, birth control

Divide the group into two by numbering off (1-2-1-2…). This is so that people don’t divide up based on what they already think about breastfeeding. One group comes up with a “defense” for breastfeeding, based on the SAS or their own experience-- and the other defends reasons NOT to breastfeed. Then get back into one group. Each side then argues their position. OR, you can divide into two groups, with those who are pro-breastfeeding or have breastfed in one group and those who are more ambivalent, had bad breastfeeding experiences, or support bottle feeding. Another variation is to break into three groups, with the third group being “undecided.” Make sure that you get across that Breastfeeding is Best by the end of the discussion, as the debate format might not make this totally clear depending on the debate skills of each team.

11. Collage

Example Topic: Families of Origin

Other topics: sexuality, support networks and community, labor, personal goals

Can cut out different images from magazines, etc, and have group make collages of their families of origin and then a collage of their new families. Also could ask members to bring family pictures to use in the collage-making. Can add beads, watercolors, markers, fabric, etc.

12. Visualization

Example Topic: family assessment 

Other topics: labor, postpartum, parenthood

Visualization as part of an opening relaxation exercise. Focus the relaxation on what the family will be after the baby arrives. Ask them to visualize who is there, how they are responding to the baby, what are they doing, what are the sounds and colors . Then ask someone to share what they envisioned and hope for their family structure.

13. Bean Game

Example Topic: personal goals

Make laminated placards representing each question (i.e. “Exercise” “Diet” “Stress” “Weight” “Drugs/Alcohol” “Support/Family/Friends”). Place in a circle around a table or spread out throughout the room if you think women want privacy. Each placard has a translucent cup next to it. Have a bowl of uncooked, hard beans ready. Give each woman a handful of beans. Everyone walks around the cups and corresponding placard and places one, two, or three beans in each cup. Each bean represents the 1 (doing well), 2 (could be better), and 3(need help) on the SAS. The discussion then focuses on the cup(s) with the most beans. Can ask people to offer suggestions about how to improve on certain topics and set a simple goal before the next group. Example: exercise. Discuss what people consider exercise and then have them maybe pair up to take a walk two times a week before the next group.

It might be more powerful to have the group come up with their goals (what appears on the placards) together.

14. Pin the (Discomfort) on the Pregnant Woman

Example Topic: common discomforts

Another common game in the US. One woman whose turn it is picks a card out of a stack of discomfort cards, reads it, and puts on a blindfold. Discomforts are on individual cards. The facilitator can read the discomfort out loud if there are literacy issues in the group. With the help of someone else, the woman turns three times in place to make sure she is not oriented to the last thing she saw before being blindfolded. Then she walks forward toward the flannel board or heavy poster with the silhouette or picture of a woman. She aims to pin the discomfort where it occurs. She then takes off the blindfold and the facilitator facilitates a conversation around that discomfort. 

15. Dart Game

Example Topic: Labor

Make a card or a picture of each emotion for each question. Put up on a wall. Each woman comes up and within a reasonable distance, throws a dart (the plastic, suction kind) at the emotion she feels. If she hits it, she discusses that emotion. If she hits another one, ask the group who in the group feels what the dart landed on. 

16. Feelings Pillow

Example Topic: labor

Other topics: personal assessment, parenting

Pillows (about the size of an eye pillow or business envelope) are made from cloth and can be filled with rice, lavender, lentils, or flax seeds. Each side has an emotion represented by a word or a picture. Pillows are in a basket in the middle of the circle. Each woman picks a pillow and shares what she feels (insert emotion) about and why. Or, you could focus it more by asking them to complete versions of the following: “When I think about labor, I feel _______.”

17. Case scenarios

Example Topic: Domestic Violence

Other topics: sexuality, relationship issues, parenting, risk reduction and sexually transmitted infections

Come up with common scenarios related to sexuality, relationship issues, or potential abuse ahead of time (i.e. partner doesn’t want her to use hormonal BCM b/c fears side effects….or partner stays out late with buddies…). Put scenarios on laminated cards. Divide into smaller groups and distribute cards. Have each group come up with ideas about to deal with a scenario. Each group then reports back. OR, can stay in one group and distribute cards, have group come with ideas together. Identify low literacy women ahead of time and be sure they are with others in the smaller groups who can read the card to them. Or, if in one big group, make sure they don’t get a card but encourage them to participate in the discussion.

18. “Dear Centering” Role Plays/Letters

Example topic: relationship issues

Other topics: partner substance abuse, sexuality, birth control, domestic violence, parenting

This is a play on the “Dear Abby” advice columns often seen in magazines, newspapers, or talk shows. Different “Dear Centering” letters or role plays are placed in a basket in the middle of the room…or the women could suggest the role plays or write the letters that go into the basket. Someone picks a card out of the basket. If it’s a role play, then the facilitator asks for a volunteer to help the woman act out the scenario. If it’s a letter, the woman reads the letter out loud and a discussion ensues of what to “advise” the woman in the letter. An example of a letter would be, “Dear Centering……my partner and I just can’t talk with each other about our sexual relationship. What should I do?”

19. Domestic Violence True/False Cards

Example topic: Domestic Violence

Write up cards with 1) true/false statements re: domestic violence, and 2) the answers to these statements. Ask for a volunteer to read one of the statements, have a group discussion, then get a volunteer to read the “answer” (though you may find that the group has already come up with the answer, or have come up with reasons why the answer may not be always correct). Proceed with other cards.

These ideas have come from the sharing of people in many training workshops and through the work of Deena Mallareddy and Margy Hutchison.