The link between periodontitis (PO, or gum disease) and birth outcomes – including pre-term birth, preeclampsia, and low birth weight – is well documented. But new literature is now exploring what role PO may play in both male and female fertility. While published research on the...

Pre-conception weight loss is something I get asked about a lot, particularly in the Yukon where birth options have recently become more limited based on the full-term weight of pregnant mothers. The controversial “birth-weight-limit” issue is frustrating, as the weight cut-off does not consider height...

Building and maintaining a regular exercise routine in pregnancy is something that I recommend to all of my pregnant patients – both for the physical and mental health benefits to mom, and for improved pregnancy and birth outcomes for fetus – even for patients...

After almost three years of awareness and vigilance around Covid, we are all at (or near) our tolerance for more news about epidemics. When the WHO recently declared monkeypox outbreak as a public health emergency of global concern, many were numb to yet another...

As I talk about in my online pregnancy program, iron is an essential nutrient for maternal health during pregnancy, and also for infant health after delivery. Iron is required to produce hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to all of the tissues in the body –...

Optimal BMI has been identified as a priority for both male and female patients undergoing fertility treatments, as I discuss in my online fertility program. A new American study has investigated whether waist circumference, as a measure of central obesity, impacts fertility independently of...

Living and working in Canada’s North, I have a number of patients who have come to my clinic with pre-conception concerns about heavy metal contamination after working in the mining industry in the Yukon, or living in regions with known concerns about contaminated drinking...

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of plant-based and plant-majority diets, having had two plant-based pregnancies myself and having progressed to a low-carb plant-based diet for the last four years. I have seen the health benefits in myself, and in hundreds...

The question of whether to trial IUI or go right to IVF is a frequent question amongst my fertility patients, especially when travel time/cost need to be factored in for out-of-territory fertility treatments. A new British study has looked at this question specifically for...

The global epidemic of obesity and its rising prevalence among children has resulted in an enormous increase in the number of bariatric (weight loss) operations performed around the world. My preference for any weight-loss program is always to assess for underlying conditions like hypothyroidism,...