Nurturing The Mother-Women's Health Series: Part 4: Kate

In this series you will get the opportunity to meet 5 beautiful women and their babies (both earthside and inside), who I have been lucky enough to be entrusted in the role of naturopath during their pivotal stages of life. These women have kindly given me permission to share their stories with you. By sharing their stories this may evoke feelings of hope in you that the health of you or your loved ones can improve and even blossom.

In our fourth addition to the series, we will be sitting down with Kate. When Kate first came to me she was struggling with hormonal acne, and exhaustion. Although Kate had worked in the health and wellness industry, she found it overwhelming to know what was the right approach for her. When Kate conceived whilst on the trip of a lifetime, we were still able to connect and work together to ensure her health was maintained in this next beautiful stage of life.

What led you to seek support from a naturopath?

I first reached out to Katie as I was looking to support poor energy levels and ongoing hormonal acne. There’s such an overload of health information out there, and even though I had worked in the health and wellbeing space for years I found it hard to navigate. I wanted to get a personalised approach to make sure I was taking the right steps to support my needs, so I reached out to Katie. She’s remained a trusted health professional for me, and I’ve since been seeing her to support my pregnancy.

How has the process with Katie been?

Katie is one of the loveliest humans you could meet! She is so flexible with her sessions, which was a huge support for me when I was traveling remote parts of Australia. I was able to have phone consults and she even helped find local pharmacies and health food stores where I could collect my prescribed supplements. 

I initially started seeing Katie with video sessions during COVID-19 lockdowns, and have since had consults via phone or in-person (which is always my favourite). It’s a comfort to know there’s someone I trust that I can consult with on health issues or decisions as they come up.

How have you begun to weave naturopathic principles more into your life? Are there any rituals that have become a daily rhythm for you?

One of the big things for me is always looking at my plate to make sure I’m getting my nutrient needs for the day. Of course not every day looks like this - sometimes I’m at the beach enjoying hot chippies! But overall, this has helped my husband and I to know we are giving our bodies what it needs to work its best, and it has really paid off in how we physically feel. 

I also love starting my day with warm water and apple cider vinegar, enjoying lots of herbal teas and taking some time in the day to switch off and connect with nature. I’ve also learnt to love the routine of my liquid herbs when I’m taking them!

How has your health, body, wellness etc. transformed since beginning your journey?

When I first started seeing Katie I found that I had really low iron levels - to be honest I didn’t even realise how tired I was feeling each day until my energy started bouncing back after working with Katie. 

I was lucky to have had good skin for most of my life, however I found that I was getting ongoing breakouts across my back which I couldn’t pinpoint to anything in particular. Being able to find trigger points to this helped clear the issue, but also helped to boost my confidence. 

Being pregnant has brought my health into a whole new light. Katie has been a wealth of wisdom in helping me feel my best while I navigate all the changes and symptoms of pregnancy. 

I now feel the best I have in years, and I know Katie has played a huge role in that. She has really supported me in achieving my optimal health and I’m so thankful. 

How has incorporating a holistic naturopathic approach to fertility/pregnancy/postpartum care or to your child’s health changed your emotional or mental well-being?

I believe that working with Katie to get my body feeling strong and balanced in the last two years played a huge role in setting me up for pregnancy. 

I was traveling Australia with my husband when we conceived. While it was such an exciting time finding out we were pregnant, I also found those first few weeks quite overwhelming. We were in a really remote area without our usual support network and GP, so all the little things like blood tests were hard to navigate. 

As soon as we found out we were pregnant, I messaged Katie and set up a consultation. This helped reduce my anxiety so much. Working with Katie to navigate my pregnancy has made me feel comfortable in knowing I’m doing everything I can to support my body and my growing baby. 

Nurturing The Mother-Women's Health Series: Part 3: Immy

In this series you will get the opportunity to meet 5 beautiful women and their babies (both earthside and inside), who I have been lucky enough to be entrusted in the role of naturopath during their pivotal stages of life. These women have kindly given me permission to share their stories with you. By sharing their stories this may evoke feelings of hope in you that the health of you or your loved ones can improve and even blossom.

In our third addition to the series, we will be meeting Immy, daughter of Penelope. When we first started working together, Immy was struggling with food allergies, reflux and irritating eczema. Her family was feeling overwhelmed with how to support her best, and upset knowing how uncomfortable she was.

What led you to seek support from a naturopath?

I first approached Katie when Immy was around 6 months to assist with her eczema and digestive discomfort. Immy had been diagnosed with reflux which wreaked havoc with not only her sleep but also her overall digestion. She was gassy, squirmy and struggled to keep milk feeds down.

As we started the weaning journey, we also discovered she suffered from a bunch of food allergies (egg & tree nuts) and would break out in hives if she consumed too many foods high in salicylates in a day.

I felt totally perplexed about what foods I should feed her (and myself), what topical creams would help & whether she needed to be taking supplements to assist with her troublesome digestive system.

How has the process with Katie been?

Katie put together a lifestyle plan for Immy & I which included: reducing eczema triggering household products and swapping them out for a more natural alternatives, giving Immy smaller and more frequent milk feeds, along with baby wearing to aid her digestion. She also prescribed both Immy and I herbs and supplements to assist with her issues.

It was such a relief to my husband and I to see her symptoms improving once implementing these changes.

How has Immy’s health, body, wellness etc. transformed since beginning her journey?

Immy is now 16 months. She is a much happier little person than when we first reached out to Katie. We are still careful about what products we use in our house (and on ourselves) however, she no longer struggles with poor digestion.  

How has incorporating a holistic naturopathic approach to fertility/pregnancy/postpartum care or to your child’s health changed your emotional or mental well-being? 

By incorporating a holistic naturopathic approach to Immy’s health, we have seen her go from a very uncomfortable and irritable baby to a relaxed and thriving toddler. We can’t thank Katie enough for all her help with Immy. There is no worse feeling than seeing your baby not living their happiest life and with Katie’s skills and knowledge, this all changed!