—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Feb. 26, 1977
56
Families return
[Continued from Page 56]
figured that if animals could
have their babies without the
aid of man, why must
women be surrounded by
doctors in a hospital with all
that added commotion? ”
So, she decided that when
she bad her first baby, she
would have it at home
without file aid of a doctor.
But, in 1966 when she was
pregnant with the first of
her four children, Deborah
Ann, she changed her tune
just a bit.
“I just wasn’t as bold as I
thought,” she says with a
twinkle in her eye and a
sheepish, self-teasing grin on
her face. “Then, I thought,
’Well, maybe I ought to have
a doctor here,’ but I still
wanted to have natural
childbirth.” So, she set about
finding out how to do it.
This was no easy task for
Mrs. Blank because the
accepted method of child
birth at that time was to use
anesthetics and to be in a
hospital. Also, there were
almost no books on this
method to be found,
anywhere.
“I searched and searched
for books and came up with
only one,” she says. That
book was the Lamaze
method of natural childbirth
which she teaches today in a
modified form.
Her decision was also hard
to carry out because she was
virtually unsupported by
anyone except her husband
and by her doctor who
agreed to try any method she
desired, even though he had
never done it before.
So, using her reference
book, she practiced all the
exercises called for and had
her baby at home.
“It was a good delivery,”
she recalls, “But it wasn’t
excellent.” She says that she
was in control the whole
time, but at the very last
point before the baby was
ready to be born (transition)
she fought the natural
muscular contractions and
dilations of her body and
made it harder on herself.
“I feel that this was
because the book I read
wasn’t totally complete in its
teaching,” she points out.
This book did not stress the
importance of practicing
relaxation, the part of
natural childbirth which
Mrs. Blank now emphasizes
the most in her courses. As a
result of the incomplete
instructions, she was not
fully prepared for the effects
of labor.
“I did enjoy the birth,
though,” she says, and she
continued in her desire to
have her children bom at
home.
For her second'birth, she
was armed with books that a
friend from Philadelphia
had sent her, and she had
faithfully practiced her
exercises and relaxation.
She also found out about a
nurse who was trained in
nautral childbirth and who
was going to start teaching
at St. Joseph’s Hospital in
Lancaster. So, Mrs. Blank
got in contact with the nurse
who then had a private
session with the Blanks on
the Modified Lamaze
method.
As a result of all her
preparation, the birth of
Marcus, who is now nine
years old, was a painless,
two-and-a-half hour
delivery.
“It was perfect, and so
beautiful.” Mrs. Blank
beams, remembering her
experience. “I recall
wishing I could show other
people how wonderful it
was.” She gives a lot of
credit to her doctor, who
followed her every wish, and
her husband, who was an
excellent coaching partner.
She also points out that she
has a good build for bearing
children, which was a
definite asset in helping her
birth be painless.
After the delivery was
over, her doctor was so
impressed, that he teasingly
'said, “We’ll have to sign you
up to give childbirth training
courses.” And, today, that’s
exactly what Anna Mary
Blank is doing - teaching
others the joys and
citement of Conscious
Cooperative Childbirth. Her
pupils come from all over to
her home in Manheim, which
she and her husband have
willingly converted into a
small classroom that can
house 20 couples at a time for
the training she offers.
“We took the sewing room
and the living room and
converted them into a
classroom,;’ she explains.
Her former dining room now
serves as both dining room
and living room.
Her pupils come from
neighboring counties, and
she is even known in other
states. She also teaches in
the community of In
tercourse, Pa., where most
of her pupils are Amish.
Here, she rents meeting
space which can seat as
many as 60 people. She says
her new space in Intercourse
is good also, because it has
good lighting to show her
charts, birth atlas, and other
teaching aids she uses to get
her subject across to those
participating.
Exactly what is her
subject - conscious
Cooperative Childbirth?
Conscious Cooperative
Childbirth as described by
Mrs. Blank is a method of
childbirth in which the
mother is conscious during
labor and delivery, and
cooperates with her body
and with the doctor to give
birth. The husband has an
active roll as coach and
comforter during labor and
delivery, and together, as
partners, the two parents
help to bring the baby into
the world. Medication may
or may not be used,
depending on the need.
Preparing the mother’s
body is a major part of this
method of childbirth.
“I stress over and over
again, the importance of
practicing breathing and
relaxation,” says Mrs.
Blank. “The important thing
is that they must not fight
pain, but must teach
themselves to relax during
it.” When the mother fights,
and curls up in a ball in
reaction to the pain, she
works against the muscular
contractions and dilations,
therefore prolonging labor
and increasing the pain for
herself. Instead of curling
up, she must go limp, and
only by training can she
learn to do this.
There are approximately
10 different exercises to
limber the mother’s
muscles. “I call them the
exercises which prepare the
three B’s - the belly, the
bade, and the bottom,” says
Mrs. Blank. These exercises
take out some of the stiffness
of disuse from the muscles to
make delivery and recovery
after the delivery much
easier.
To emphasize her point,
she gives the example of a
woman who gave birth in a
doctor’s office and was on
her way home in less than an
hour after delivery.
“She told me she felt so
perky that she went home
and worked in her office for
a while,” Mrs. Blank
remarked in near
amazement. This was an
unusual case, and one which
she feels might have been a
bit hurried, but it .never
theless underscores the fact
that many times women
recover quickly with this
method of birth.
Breathing exercises are
also part of the program.
“Concentrating on their
breathing keeps their minds
off the actual physical pain,
and helps them to keep
things under control,” Mrs.
Blank explains. Homan
beings can normally focus on
only one thing, so con
centrating on breathing
helps the mothers
psychologically dull the
pain.
Besides the various
exercises Mrs. Blank
teaches in her series, she
also includes prenatal
education.
“I feel that confidence is
gained from childbirth
education, which helps to
alleviate fear and tension,
and this helps to alleviate
pain,” she explains.
“Depending on the
woman, there may be pain -
we don’t lead parents to
expect a painless labor, nor
one necessarily conducted
without drugs or medication
if necessary,” she explains.
She does point out, however,
that it has been discovered
that there is less need, often
no need, for drugs when a
woman is prepared and
supported.
“It’s also better for the
babies when 'the mothers
don’t have to take drugs,”
she says. Babies born to
mothers without anesthetics
are so alert and perky,” she
explains with enthusiasm
showing on her face. “Just
the otter day I assisted a
doctor with a birth and when
I wrapped the baby in the
blanket, he turned his head
and just looked all around.
He was so cute,” she em
phasized. In comparison, she
says babies born to mothers
under anesthesia are more
sluggish, and many times
blue in color. Usually, babies
born with natural childbirth
are pink, unless there has
been some type of com
plication.
Another bonus to Con
scious Cooperative Child
birth is a special tie which is
established between the
parents and the child.
“Now, you have to be
careful about saying that
parents who go through
natural childbirth love their
children more - that’s not
really true - but, there is a
special bond that they feel
for that child because they
have worked together, and
as a team have shared in the
birth of that child.” The
manifestations of this
special tie are many, but
they are often times small
which only the mother
notices. Yet, they are
nevertheless there. For
instance, Mrs. Blank says
that mothers will write to
her saying, “My husband
just looks at him more than
he did the otter children.”
Or, sometimes the husband
will help with diapering
when be had never done that
with the other babies.
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Conscious co-operative
Childbirth also takes away
any suppressed guilt a
husband or child might feel
knowing that they caused the
mother pain.
“When you’ve gone
through this method, your
attitude and expressions
with your children make
I Continued on Page 57]
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R 3
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17201
717-264-6007
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