Words Matter

Have you ever said something and felt like you’re invisible?

Me too.

I think that’s why I wrote the play BIRTH

because so many pregnant mamas who thought they said

NO

to an intervention weren’t listened to.

When I interviewed these women I heard their

NO voice

loud and clear.

I put their NO voices center stage in my play

and audiences heard them too.

Why didn’t hospital staff hear them?

I just found the answer in this video.

You’ve gottta watch it now.

This video blew my birth-socks off.

Click on it and watch.

Here’s my major take away:

if the way you’re saying something is not getting results

– not making ya rich -

then find another way to say it.

Whoa.

A simple prescription that packs a lot of power.

But how do we get pregnant moms to “drink the cool aid”

to find a way of saying NO

that gets results?

In my childbirth prep training program for birth professionals

we teach role-playing

or as we call it, “Theater-Telling.”

We get pregnant moms practicing what they’re going to

say.

When I saw this video I thought,

 WOW,

wouldn’t it be fun to teach a childbirth ed class

that modeled this exact video?

Here’s how I’d teach it:

Let’s say a woman comes into your childbirth ed class

and she’s going through a

challenging moment with her care provider.

·      Get her to write the words she wants to say to her care provider on a piece of cardboard

·      Have her sit on the “street” with it next to her

·      then have everyone in the class give her coins if  they think her sign effectively communicates what she wants to say 

·      Then people in the class are asked to rewrite her sign on another piece of cardboard to make it more effective.

·      Again, the class walks by and gives coins related to how effective her new sign communicates what she wants to say.

·      For each sign the number of coins are calculated and the sign that got the most coins is considered the most effective words.

This would totally rock

my fun and educational barometer.

I think every birth professional

who is a visionary

knows that

words matter.

But here’s my point:

We can lecture soon-to-be parents about it

or we can

ENGAGE them

in the problem

and coming up with solutions.

It’s amazing how

just changing one’s words

can change any experience.

Sure, maternity care providers need to

change their words too.

But their words are not in our control.

Our words are our power wands.

Let’s use ‘em.

I want to hear from you. In what ways are you moving pregnant moms to take responsibility for their births? How are you getting them to recognize that their words matter? Share your comments below.