Expectant new mothers, parents of all ages and actually anyone looking for an awesome party trick?this childbirth simulation is one of the coolest things we?ve ever seen.
Let?s just say most childbirth lessons are lacking in terms of visuals. We?ve been told to picture the birth canal as everything from turtleneck sweaters (which, frankly, sometimes ruins turtlenecks for us) to the unfolding petals of a blossoming rose and the elegant flowing of blue satin ribbons. And we?re not even talking about the all-too-real videos of actual births and things you can never un-see. It?s pretty hard to find any of it helpful, much less entertaining.
Enter childbirth educator Liz Chalmers, who brilliantly demonstrates what happens during labour and childbirth by stuffing a ping pong ball (your baby) into a balloon (your uterus), blowing it up half-way and then squeezing it out with gentle ?contractions? until the magic happens?with much suspense and drama. Chalmers, an owner of the Puget Sound Birth Center in the Seattle, Washington area, created this video for her niece Charlotte, who is following in her footsteps by studying to become a childbirth educator in New Zealand.
You have to see this video, below:

The first tricky step is actually getting the ping pong ball successfully inside the deflated balloon, and once you?ve filled it up halfway, Chalmers shows us the difference between squeezing the sides of the balloon for Braxton-Hicks contractions ( a.k.a. practice contractions) an...