Get Radiant Good Health Before, During and After Baby

As a competitive volleyball player for more than a decade, Tamara Jule-Ganne has long focused on striving for optimal health.

“Good nutrition and taking care of my body has always been part of my lifestyle,” she says.

But it wasn’t until she was home on maternity leave and nursing her youngest of two children that she realized she could be doing more.

“A co-worker told me about Pure North, she had a really good experience there,” says Jule Ganne, a media sales consultant. “I wanted to do everything I could for myself, my baby and my toddler. And make sure we were receiving all the nutrients we needed.”

Dr. Lisa Kopp, a naturopathic physician at Pure North, put Jule-Ganne on a supplement program that included omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D.

“We watch women throughout their pregnancy and after, when they’re nursing their newborns,” says Dr. Kopp. “We encourage exercise and movement and also a healthy diet where mom is getting enough proteins and fats.”

In a perfect world, Dr. Kopp would begin working with her Pure North participants as early as possible — before they get pregnant.

“Folate is a huge one for the first month,” she says of the B vitamin that helps prevent neural tube defects in the fetus during the crucial first few weeks of pregnancy. “Our rates of spina bifida have dropped dramatically thanks to folate.”

Since most don’t even know they’re pregnant until the second month, a multivitamin with folate is recommended for any woman of childbearing age. Having vitamin D blood levels above 100 nmol/L is also crucial during pregnancy and when nursing.

Omega-3 fatty acids play a big role in aiding fetal brain development. “If there isn’t enough in the diet,” says Dr. Kopp, “then it comes out of mother’s. That’s when you see fatigue, brain fog and mood disorders show up.”

Some Pure North participants come to her with additional health concerns. Years ago, Dr. Kopp helped stabilize Emma Cardiff’s Lupus. Recently, when the young woman couldn’t get pregnant, Cardiff assumed it was due to the autoimmune disease.

“We encourage exercise and movement and also a healthy diet where mom is getting enough proteins and fats”

“We did a test and found she was low on estrogen, which helps build that beautiful lining that the embryo will become engulfed in and grow,” says Dr. Kopp.

Cardiff is expecting her first child in February. “I’ve been told it’s a textbook pregnancy,” she says. “I’m feeling really, really good.”

Dr. Kopp sees her role as a complement to conventional medical care, all of it helping to ensure every step of the pregnancy journey can strive toward an optimal outcome.

“I support the pregnancy and then I leave it up to nature,” says Dr. Kopp, a mother of two who personally knows the heartbreak of miscarriage. “I really value the innate healing powers of the body.”

She describes her relationship with her participants as a joyful one. “I do what I can until that baby’s out and then we go from there. I love to be that supportive care.”

It’s a commitment participants like Jule-Ganne have witnessed firsthand. “I’m so thankful to Dr. Kopp and to have a place like this,” she says of Pure North, “accessible to everyone, to be their healthiest version of themselves.”