Journal

Postpartum Stories: Frida Ålgars, The Tenth Co.

Frida, you are the incredible mama behind The Tenth Co. An incredible supplement formulated alongside Dr Oscar Serrallach to help support postnatal depletion. I would absolutely love for you to share a little about yourself, your postpartum experience and the evolution of The Tenth.
Village For Mama A woman wearing a white dress breastfeeds a baby while sitting on a blanket in a grassy field near a body of water at sunset.

Frida, you are the incredible mama behind The Tenth Co. An incredible supplement formulated alongside Dr Oscar Serrallach to help support postnatal depletion. I would absolutely love for you to share a little about yourself, your postpartum experience and the evolution of The Tenth.

Firstly, would you like to introduce yourself and share a little about you and your family? 

I’m Frida, a mother of two. 

Before founding The Tenth, I loved working for some of the world’s biggest health and beauty brands. I had the opportunity to work with globally leading brands in various locations such as Helsinki, Melbourne and Los Angeles. Throughout my life, I always had a deep passion for health and wellness. I pursued certification as an integrative nutritionist in New York because I wanted to deepen and formalise my knowledge.

I enjoyed my corporate career and cherished the experiences and connections it brought. I knew deep down that I wanted to contribute to a cause beyond myself, leaving a positive impact on the world. I found myself thinking about how I could make a difference. However, I hadn’t quite figured out what that would be until I faced my own health crisis.

In essence, The Tenth Co is so much more than a business to me. It’s a real passion. The Tenth Co emerged from my personal journey: I was battling exhaustion, burnout, and overwhelm as I navigated motherhood, my career, and everyday life.

A story I’ve seen resonate with so many women also trying to ‘do it all’.

Dr Oscar Serrallach, is well-known in the field of postnatal health that we are so lucky to have as our medical advisor at The Tenth. He was my own personal doctor at the time, that I had through my pregnancies, and most recently as a working mother facing depletion got to experience his treatment protocol for depletion. During my recovery with Dr Oscar Serrallach, my solo health journey soon became a bigger one with an unwavering mission: help other women avoid what I went through, a passion Oscar shares and has devoted his clinical practice to. In short, The Tenth Co is the supplement I wish I had during those challenging times.  

We so often prepare for the birth and forget to prepare for postpartum. Something else we don’t tend to acknowledge is how much the birth can impact your postpartum experience. What type of birth did you have?

Oh, this is SO true, and especially for me! I was quite anxious about the birth, so I went into overdrive prepping. I had my hypnobirthing course, doula, and essential oils ready to go. But, as it happened, my doula never made it to the hospital, and my essential oils never left the bag. I really wanted a natural birth, but as things progressed (and I quickly realised just what a natural/unassisted birth entailed), I became very open to all the assistance available haha.

As the contractions intensified, I remember saying to my husband, “Am I supposed to just ride these out, or should we have them check him?” My husband got the midwife, she checked my son’s heart rate and said swiftly, “Your doctor will be with you shortly.” Within minutes, I was rushed into emergency as his heart rate dropped with each contraction. I had an emergency c-section. Which was an experience on its own, and I cried through the whole thing but when they handed me my son, all I could think of,

“Oh my goodness, this is the little face that’s been inside of me for almost 10 months! Hello, I can’t wait to get to know you.”

How was your recovery from birth and did it impact your postpartum experience?

My recovery was relatively okay from my first c-section, the 2nd one was a different ball game. My doula asked me if I was disappointed that I didn’t have a natural birth in the end and/or if I was sad about it; to be honest I was just grateful that my son was okay and made it earth side. Would I have liked to experience natural birth? Yes, very much so. It seems beautiful and empowering; I’m fascinated by women’s stories of how they connect to their primal instincts, and are so deeply connected to their bodies. It’s so incredible what our bodies can do. It just wasn’t on the cards for me, and I’m okay with that.

What are your non-negotiables for postpartum recovery?

I wish resources like Village for Mama and BareMum existed when I had my babies. Thankfully, I had Dr. Oscar Serrallach in my corner, making a world of difference. I consider his book, “The Postnatal Depletion Cure,” essential for anyone pregnant and their partner. Additionally, depending on your birth experience, SRC recovery shorts were my lifesaver for early mobility. If I had a baby now, BareMum’s recovery shorts seem to take the SRC shorts to the next level, so they’d be another essential item.

Beyond items, a non-negotiable is sleep. Dr Oscar Serrallach always says it’s your greatest restorer. While Oscar did encourage me to prioritise sleep, I know how difficult it is to actually do it, especially early on when it feels like your only “me-time.” So I get it. However, I also know what happens when you don’t prioritise it, the toll of being sleep-deprived for years. If I could do it again, I’d organise support, enrol my partner so I could sleep more (for some strange reason I thought there is no point us both not having any sleep, so ‘I’ll just do it’ – not an approach I recommend btw). You never regret getting any sleep you can get in the early days of motherhood. 

Good nourishment— if we don’t replenish, we don’t recover, it’s that simple—half of mothers experience depletion. This shows up in a host of symptoms like fatigue, overwhelm, anxiety, brain fog, moodiness, and hair loss, among others. It’s challenging enough to shower during those early days, let alone eat enough nutrients! That’s why we created The Tenth Co., to help nourish and replenish you when you’re depleted of key nutrients that have a foundational effect on your mental, physical, and emotional state.

Think of it as giving your body and mind the essential building blocks they need to rebuild and recover. It’s not a magic bullet, but it can be a powerful ally in your journey towards feeling like yourself again. And have your iron checked. 

Beyond nourishment, nervous system work is crucial for regulation. Ever feel like you’re about to “lose it”? That’s your nervous system in distress.

The good news is, calming your nervous system doesn’t have to be complex.

I’m a big fan of Dr. Oscar Serrallach’s effective and simple framework:

  • Tiny things frequently: Think 20-second actions repeated throughout the day – sipping water, taking five deep breaths, bare feet on grass/sand (sounds a bit woo woo – but there are over 300 studies behind ‘earthing’). 
  • Small things daily: Maybe a short yoga session, spending time in nature, or connecting with a friend.
  • Bigger things once in a while: A massage, a weekend getaway, anything that feels truly restorative for you.

I wish us mums prioritised ourselves more and knew that even the smallest steps can make a big difference. What works for me, starting with what feels manageable, listen to my body’s needs, and learning not to be afraid to ask for help. We deserve to rest, feel supported and empowered. This is something I’m still practising, the ‘good girl’ programming runs so deep – but I’m trying to be more aware and I guess I have more good days than not now, so when I have one of ‘those’ days, where i can feel my anxiety or overwhelm creep in, I know it’s my body signalling ‘you are doing too much for everyone else’ and it’s my nervous system saying ‘ we are holding a lot right now, soon it will start cracking’. That’s when i know aaah time to take the time for myself too, as I said I’m practising to tune in with my body, and listening to it, because when mothers are well, families are well.  

We are often told to sleep when the baby sleeps which can feel impossible. Yet rest is so essential for postpartum recovery! Did you manage to have moments of rest during your postpartum and how did you achieve these?

I wish I did, but then I wouldn’t perhaps be here today talking to You. I found it quite challenging, especially with two under two. Being an A + type personality and pre-kids ‘pride’ myself in being a high achiever (which translates to having no boundaries, which leads to burning out), sidenote: these are the types that tend to be more likely to have postnatal depletion, because we think we just have to push through. My learnings from this: I wish I had felt comfortable to be vulnerable, to ask for support, instead of feeling like I had to be “I got this” (when I definitely didn’t ‘have this’) this led me to push myself too hard which led me to a place of complete depletion. That experience, ironically, became the seed for The Tenth Co – a kind of silver lining to a difficult time.

There are some things we never forget and I think the first meal you have after birth is one of them! What was the first thing you ate after giving birth?

Oh my goodness – I don’t remember as I was recovering from my emergency c-section,I was really out of it – reading the other women’s responses I wished I had a special meal, food gives me great joy in my everyday life. 

What were your favourite meals during your postpartum?

Slow cooked meats, bone broths, my slow cooked chicken bone broth soup. Things that were soft, easy to reheat while still nutritious and nourishing.

A village can be one person, it doesn’t have to be a tribe of support! Did you have a village of support for your postpartum? How did they impact your postpartum experience?

We all have our journey and mine was one of solitude, having said that though, I did have people around me offering support, but I didn’t want to be seen not to be coping – and now looking back I’m like people are offering, say YES. Have the courage to say yes, furthermore I’d say to myself don’t wait for someone to ask, enrol people around you, high chance they will say yes.

What was the most helpful thing someone did for you during your postpartum?

As my first postpartum experience was one for the books, I think my mom knew I was going to struggle with my 2nd; so she flew over from Finland and stayed the first 10 weeks with us, and it was the most helpful thing EVER. She took my youngest to sleep in her room, and would wheel him in for a feed and then take him back to do all the burping and settling. It was incredible.

Something that most mums are most surprised by is breastfeeding. It is biologically normal yet rarely comes naturally and often impacts our postpartum experience. It is also something we spend the most time doing during those early months! Would you like to share anything about your breastfeeding journey? Insights, tips or essential products?

Qiara Probiotics. There might be other products now, but when I had recurring mastitis they had just launched I think, and Oscar told me about them, it was incredible in helping clear it. 

Overall with breastfeeding, it’s such a personal journey and experience. I had no idea how hard it was going to be early on, and I remember at the hospital I just couldn’t get the hang of latching, so it was this very manual ‘project’ by the midwife and my husband, it was a lot, I was in shock and slightly scarred from it all; BUT it did get easier and I ended up really loving it. I found it relaxing, it was time away to be at peace just me and him. Granted there were also the cluster feeding days, when you get a little bit out touched – but all in all I’d say I had a nice breastfeeding experience. 

My second child’s start to bf was different, thanks to a wonderful midwife who encouraged me to relax and trust the process. “Just put him on your chest,” she said, “he’ll find his way.” And he did. I wish I had that kind of support the first time around, but hey, that’s the beauty of hindsight.

Also anyone reading this, who is potentially having a hard time with breastfeeding week after week, please don’t be discouraged by my story either, just please be kind to yourself, listen to yourself and if bf is not for you, then it’s not and that is so fine. Your mental health matters. 

Did you suffer from Postnatal depletion? If so, at what point did you realise you were impacted by depletion?

Yes I did. I just noticed my resilience being really low, I’d cry for any reason and felt quite low. I’d speak to my maternal health nurse, and she just brushed it off and even when I scored high on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) – she didn’t know what to do, she just said ‘well you are mum now, being tired and exhausted is what happens’ and I remember thinking ‘really, that’s it?’. I’m meant to just accept this is my new ‘normal’?! Surely not. 

Fast forward a few months, as faith had it, my regular doctor went on a sabbatical, and she hired Dr Oscar Serrallach to take over her patients; and I didn’t know at the time he was just about to publish The Postnatal Depletion Cure-book; and when I told him about my experience to date, he explained all the symptoms that I’m having is due to being nutritionally depleted after growing, feeding and caring for my son. And it made so much sense, I instantly got a glimmer of hope that I don’t have to just survive, I can actually thrive as a mother. 

Can you share a little about your incredible Flow State supplement and how it came to be? I know it has been mentioned by nearly all the mamas we interviewed in this series as a postpartum essential.

I’ve seen it being mentioned a fair few times here, it really brings me so much joy knowing we are making a difference, exactly as we set out to do. This is why we created it, so that other women could avoid what I (and so many before me) went through.

Throughout my own experience both as a new mum and later as a ‘corporate mum’; seeing my friends struggle as well as chatting to Oscar and other experts I’ve come to realise there is no off-season for mothers, and this depletes us of key nutrients, minerals and vitamins. So no surprise that 1 in 2 mothers will experience postnatal depletion in the first seven years of motherhood, because the emotional and mental load is heightened with children up to 7 years, not to mention if you have special needs children.

I wanted to make a difference for mothers, use my own personal experience (I was also tired of taking 10 different supplements a day) as well as my corporate experience for something greater, create something better and easier, that would be convenient for mothers; so one day I asked Oscar during my appointment would he help me, help others; and to my surprise he said Yes. He had also felt frustrated by the supplements, he said he felt compromised or that the mothers wouldn’t stick to the recommended supplement regime, because they had to take so many; so when I suggested creating this ‘ultimate’/’foundational’ once-a-day supplement  for mothers he wanted to be involved. We took nearly two years to develop Flow State, have it TGA listed, and finally launched Jan 2023; and the feedback ever since has been incredible. 

And lastly, what is your favourite recipe from the Village for Mama book?

There are so many good ones, but I do love a good snack and especially Spiced Pumpkin Loaf as you can freeze it, so you can always have it on hand. 

Frida is the beautiful mama behind The Tenth Co. An incredible supplement formulated alongside Dr Oscar Serrallach to help support postnatal depletion. You can learn more and explore The Tenth Co here.
AT VILLAGE FOR MAMA, WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT WAYS TO SUPPORT NEW MAMAS ON THEIR POSTPARTUM JOURNEY. WE ASKED FRIDA WHAT HER POSTPARTUM ESSENTIAL WISH LIST WAS AND HERE IS HER LIST:
  1. Bare Mum Recovery Shorts
  2. Village for Mama
  3. The Postnatal Depletion Cure by Dr Oscar Serrallach
  4. The Tenth
  5. Portier Carrier
  6. LARQ Water Bottle

More from the archives

Village For Mama Book titled "Village for Mama" with recipe sheets, a free postpartum guide, and a poppy flower on a peach background. Tablets displaying related content are also included.
FEBRUARY SPECIAL

'A Postpartum Guide' FREE

When you buy the Village for Mama book get our postpartum planning guide free, packed with postpartum wisdom, planning tools, checklists, additional resources, recipes, and discount codes. No code needed, automatically added at checkout.

Newsletter sign up

Join the village