Birth Bingo

Informed by literature reviews, conversations with stakeholders and direct observation in hospital birthing rooms, I created the Birth Bingo Card to capture the feeling of the Cascade of Interventions, one of the key mechanisms by which over-medicalization of birth takes place. This piece of knowledge translation is meant as a conversation starter around birth politics. I used the bingo card format to convey both how the cascade feels in the moment (a seemingly random yet constant accumulation of interventions resolving climactically by the birth of the baby) and the various forms it takes (the list of potential interventions implemented).

You can download a PDF of the Birth Bingo Card here.

Special thanks to birth educator Jessica Austin for her contributions to this project.

Goal:
Draw attention to the over-medicalization of birth.

Audience:
Pregnant people, parents and birth workers.

Message:
There are many medical interventions performed on birthing people.

Tone:
Vintage, clinical.

Strategy:
Use the visual vernacular of the bingo card to convey the lack of control some birthing people feel when experiencing the cascade of intervention.

Select a narrow typeface with good legibility (Bebas) in order to fit the content within the bingo grid.

You can buy the tote bag here.