Bring the lights up gradually and give people a minute or two for reflection. There is a tendency for parents to think that what they have seen on the screen will happen to them. It is important to keep the discussion general, and not to imply that this is how labour and birth, for example, will be for them. Mention that the birth they have seen was this woman's unique event and we were looking at her responses to what she was feeling. Schedule enough time to discuss the video in full.
Some educators have a library of videos they make available for parents to view privately.
As it is difficult to predict the impact a video, especially of an event that is so personal as birth may have on the viewers, looking at it without the opportunity for immediate debriefing can be a problem. Parents may also misinterpret what they are seeing and be left with a mistaken impression of the events they have seen. If you are going to loan videos in this way, make sure you give parents a chance to debrief their reactions afterwards. Videos can be a valuable teaching tool and provide welcome variety into a prenatal program. Used wisely they can tell a story or show information difficult to explain in any other way in a class setting and they can enhance your presentation enormously.