  We introduce an effective Lagrangian which describes the classical and
semiclassical dynamics of spherically symmetric, self-gravitating objects that
may populate the Universe at large and small (Planck) scale. These include
wormholes, black holes and inflationary bubbles. We speculate that such objects
represent some possible modes of fluctuation in the primordial spacetime foam
out of which our universe was born. Several results obtained by different
methods are encompassed and reinterpreted by our effective approach. As an
example, we discuss: i) the gravitational nucleation coefficient for a pair of
Minkowski bubbles, and ii) the nucleation coefficient of an inflationary vacuum
bubble in a Minkowski background
