Melissa had her first baby in 2016. Overall things went well, but she did end up with a second degree tear. After this birth, Melissa had a procedure called a sphincterotomy. She was told any future births would need to be a cesarean or she would risk further tearing and may end up needing a colostomy bag. Melissa had accepted this, but when she became pregnant with her second, she wanted to explore all of her options.

Melissa went on to have 3 more vaginal births without tearing! Listen to hear how she advocated for herself and how her 4th birth experience was different while having a doula. She also shares her experience being readmitted 3 days later with postpartum preeclampsia and shares some of her favorite postpartum resources.