Childbirth can mean a lot of different things to different people, but to Alyssa Milano, it brought back feelings that were complicated to deal with. During a recent podcast appearance, Alyssa said that giving birth triggered memories of her sexual assault, reminding her of the "invasive" feelings she felt when it happened.
The flashbacks happened when giving birth to her first child
While appearing on People's "Me Becoming Mom" podcast, Alyssa said that as she gave birth to her son, Milo, 10 years ago, it felt "familiar" to her for people to have "access to my vagina," even though she'd never had a baby before.
"After going through therapy after giving birth to Milo and remembering that one moment of feeling like I was being held down and had things being done to me that I didn't want, to me, was very reminiscent of being sexually assaulted," she said.
It was triggering for her, even though she thought she had dealt with her trauma
"I think anyone who has dealt with trauma has the moments where you're like, 'Yeah, I'm fine. I've dealt with that.' Versus the moments where you go, 'Oh, no I didn't. I just tried to tuck it away so no one could see them, or I couldn't see them or feel them anymore,'" she said.
Alyssa went to therapy after Milo's birth, and eventually, she'd go on to have a second child, Elizabella, with husband David Bugliari.
Alyssa has been open about her sexual assault
Sharing her stories as part of the #MeToo movement, Alyssa has revealed that she's been sexually assaulted twice, including once as a teenager at a concert. There's no doubt that Alyssa speaking out has helped people who have gone through something similar, but of course, it's heartbreaking that she's had to overcome anything like this at all — especially since it's continued to affect her years later.
Now Alyssa is hoping her birth story will help others
On the podcast, she went on to say that she feels that other sexual assault survivors might have had similar feelings when giving birth.
"I gotta think that because it felt that way for me, it must've felt that way for other women. I wonder how much of my postpartum anxiety was due to — of course, hormones and all of the things — but also that feeling that felt like I wasn't in control, you know?" she said.
Alyssa's kids are both so grown-up now
It's been a long time since Alyssa gave birth to Milo and Elizabella, who are now 10 and 7 — they've both gotten so big!
It's hard to hear that any moment of their births would have been traumatic for Alyssa, but good to know that it's something she's worked through — and there's no doubt that she adores them both. She has two beautiful kiddos.
