Miscarriage can be a traumatic and disorienting experience for women and their partners – and deciding if, and when, to try again is a challenging question for couples to tackle. There are many factors to consider, so I wanted to share with you how I...

Awareness of post-partum depression is growing amongst all spectrums of health care providers, which is a truly important shift for mothers who struggle after the births of their children and need extra support. However, PTSD following a birth experience – despite being quite distinct...

Your body’s need for protein increases significantly during pregnancy – to support growth of maternal tissues (breast and uterus) as well as fetal growth and brain development. Low protein intake during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of “small-for-gestational age” babies, and animal studies...

The “gut-brain-axis” is getting a lot of buzz these days as we better understand the connections between intestinal function and cognitive/emotional centres in the brain. In short, the billions of microbes living in your gut affect how we think and feel – both positively...

When women start thinking about getting pregnant, they are routinely advised to start taking a prenatal with folic acid in it, to ensure they have adequate stores to reduce the chance of neural tube defects in the first trimester. A study that came out...

The Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) allows you to identify the days in your menstrual cycle on which you’re more likely to be fertile. This information can be used to avoid pregnancy, or help get pregnant when the time comes to start your family. FAM...

Miscarriages are incredibly common: it is estimated that 15% (1 in 7) of clinically recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage (i.e. those pregnancies that were confirmed with a positive pregnancy test). When a woman has a first miscarriage, it is typically considered a one-off event...

Probiotics are live bacteria that benefit their hosts (that is, us!) in seemingly countless ways. Throughout pregnancy the gut microbiome undergoes significant changes, and probiotic supplementation during pregnancy has been shown to lower rates of infant eczema and allergies, pre-term birth, and rates of urinary...

Avoiding refined grains, including white flour and white rice, is something I recommend to my patients during pregnancy, due to their impact on maternal blood sugar levels. As I share in-depth as part of the nutrition module in my online pregnancy coaching program, a...

50% of pregnant women will experience back pain during pregnancy. Many women forego treatment out of concern about prescription drug use and overuse of Tylenol (see this weekly tip for more information). However, chronic, severe pain is associated with hypertension, anxiety and depression, and needs to...