Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Franca Alterman.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started working as a prenatal chiropractor?
After being in practice in Jacksonville Beach for around 25 years and feeling on the verge of burnout, I had a beautiful experience with a pregnant mom who had been planning a home birth, in the water with a midwife.
She came to the office as a new patient with severe low back and sciatic pain, and also because her baby was in the breech position and her midwife had told her that chiropractors know of a special adjustment that could help her baby turn. She asked me if I knew this technique and if I could do it for her, because if her baby didn’t turn head-down, she would end up in the hospital with a c-section – not at all the birth she wanted.
When I was in chiropractic school, Dr. Larry Webster was the director at one of our school clinics. He was the inventor of the “Webster Technique,” and I learned it directly from him. This is the adjustment the patient was asking about.
It’s important to note here that this technique does not turn the baby, what it does is to bring more alignment and balance to the bones, muscles and ligaments of the pelvis, thus creating a space that gives baby the best chance of getting into the ideal position for birth.
I performed the Webster Technique on her on two or three separate occasions, and about a month later, I received a letter with a birth announcement. This letter talked about how my care not only relieved her of the lower back and sciatic pain but, more importantly, allowed her baby to turn, and she was able to have the birth she had been dreaming about. This letter changed the trajectory of my practice. I became intensely more interested in pre-natal chiropractic and, as a result, acquired special training that exclusively teaches how to apply the art and science of chiropractic to pregnant moms.
In 2014 ‘Blooming Bellies – Mommy and Me Chiropractic’ was opened to the public; this is the second location for Alterman & Johnson Family Chiropractors, dedicated exclusively to pregnant moms and kids.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My biggest challenge was in the mid 90s being a single mom and trying to keep a business and a household going. This burden was greatly relieved when Dr. Diane Johnson and I decided to join our practices in October 1994 forming Alterman & Johnson Family Chiropractors.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our practice focuses on working with mommas and children. It’s what Dr. Johnson and I are most passionate about and where we do our best work.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
I count myself as very lucky to have joined my practice with Dr. Johnson’s practice. At that time, we were both single moms struggling to have home-office balance. We became a great support system for each other, as we both wanted to be in practice and, at the same time, be there for our children. Because of this partnership, we could each be off a couple of afternoons every week and 6 weeks off during the summer while the other partner was at the office. Having another doctor in the office to bounce things off of and collaborate in caring for difficult cases is also great.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ajchiropractors.com
- Instagram: ajchiropractors
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/altermanandjohnson/
