Alissa Alter aka “The Amy Poehler of vaginas” joins us this episode to tell us all about her birth and journey to working as a women’s health expert and motherhood advocate, with a side of humor. This is part 1 of 2. 

LISTEN HERE.

Alissa found herself stuck in a bad marriage and an unfulfilling career when she decided she was done suffering in silence. She began learning more and more about women’s health and encouraging other women to be open and unapologetic about their own bodies and what they go through during pregnancy and postpartum. She started Pilates for Privates to help women move and get to know their bodies, inside and out. When she started her own motherhood journey, she was certain it would be a breeze due to her extensive education. 

Alissa’s baby had other plans and presented sunny-side up during labor. Stuck in the birth canal, midwives had to apply fundal pressure on Alissa. She ended up with heavy bleeding and a 4th degree tear (an extensive tear that goes from the vagina to the rectum). She had an extremely tough postpartum not only physically but emotionally and mentally as well. She was very disappointed in the lack of support and education on how to handle her recovery. Due to her previous education in pelvic health, her tear healed well and she had a successful recovery. 

As a result of her experiences, she started two podcasts and a website that focuses on education, empowerment and advocating for women’s health. She is changing the narrative surrounding postpartum! 

These are the shownotes Natalie and Liz wrote for my episode on their podcast The Golden Hour Birth Podcast all about my birth story.

As I write this I am almost three years postpartum and still processing, unraveling, and learning from my experience. Seeing someone else’s words describing what I went through feels vulnerable, validating, and empowering. I was going to use another V word, but I didn’t. 

As we recorded I could feel in my body how much has changed in three years. Parts of this story that I couldn’t remember, verbalize, or handle are now part of the furniture. I can talk about them without bursting into tears, having a flashback, or feeling like a failure. 

I am not a failure because I experienced birth injury and trauma. 

I am victorious (there’s that third V word for you) because my birth story doesn’t define me. It is one part of my circuitous, comedic, and constantly changing story. I switched to “c”s that time if you didn’t notice 😉

When I was newly postpartum and trying to make sense of things hearing other people’s birth experiences helped the most. The reinforcement that birth shows up in so many different ways. That we are all traumatized in our own ways. That I was NOT alone in feeling like “WTF?! Why didn’t anyone tell me?!” are what helped me the most to heal. 

And that’s why I won’t shut up about it now. 

I hope hearing my story supports you in yours.

xo