Hello! My name is Judith. Thanks for stopping by! I’ll bet that before you decide to trust your health to a practitioner you’ve never met, you might want to get to know her a little. So, here goes!
I was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. Yes, I’m one of the few people who has lived here nearly all my life.
I was raised in a very medical-model home. I have to admit, my childhood family doctor was amazing. I remember him being gentle and caring and from all reports a darn good doctor.
As a teenager, I was angered and saddened by the story of a medical doctor, here in Calgary, who was in favor of homebirth and doctor-attended home births. At the time it was illegal to purposely deliver a baby at home, regardless of who the birth attendants were, and it was illegal to be a midwife. That doctor lost her license to practice medicine and was ‘run outta town’.
About the same time, while I was still in high school, my dad had his first heart attack. According to his cardiologist, only one in 1200 survive the type of heart attack he had. Dad was advised to lose 40 pounds - but since we always had soda, ice cream, chocolate bars, and cookies in the house, and Dad loved all of them, the weight never came off.
Knowing that Dad had been told to lose weight, I took it upon myself to try to improve our diet by making whole wheat bread by hand - yes, we had a grain grinder which my parents didn’t know how to use, but we didn’t have a bread mixer. The whole wheat bread was tasty, but Mom and Dad didn’t like it, so I ended up giving away loaves every week. (Yes, I’m kind of stubborn like that - I really tried for a full year to help them broaden their taste.)
I also took up jogging and tried to get Dad to go with me. That didn’t work either.
Then, I left for university.
While there, I discovered that my acne problem was not due to a lack of antibiotics, as suggested by the dermatologist. It was, instead, the direct result of the amount of junk food I ate when I lived at home - junk food I could not afford on a university-student budget.
After my second year of university, and while home for the summer, I met a guy at church. Yes. He was handsome, funny, sensitive, very fit, smart (and I could go on for a very long time).
He knew some things about herbs, healthier diet, reflexology, and iridology, which he taught me. I bought books and kept studying. We maintained a long-distance romance when I went back to school - but that ended the following summer when we got married!
We headed back to university after we got married - but learned just a month later that baby #1 was on the way. Having a baby in the USA was not an affordable option since we didn’t have maternity insurance. But while we were there, we sought out midwives for prenatal care, as they were very affordable.Â
I had been taking some general-nutrition herbs prior to conceiving, and continued to use them throughout the pregnancy.
Upon coming back to Calgary that winter, we found a medical doctor who was willing to support our goals to have a non-medical delivery using the Alternate Birthing Centre (birthing room) at the General Hospital.
Since then, I have continued to study - adding several credentials in herbalism, nutrition, iridology, and more.
Over the years, my husband and I have had seven children, and they have blessed us with eight grandchildren so far.
I’m pretty passionate about infertility, pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation.
Currently, I am a professional member of the Alberta Herbalists Association, a Natural Nutrition Clinical Practitioner with both the Canadian Association of Natural Nutrition Professionals and the Canadian Association of Holistic Nutrition Professionals, as well as a Level 3 Certified Iridology Instructor.
In years gone by I was also a Certified Childbirth Educator.
When I’m not working with clients or teaching courses to health professionals, I can be found nurturing my veggie garden, working out, hiking with hubby, or enjoying a fun family dinner with some of our kids, grandkids, and our fur grandbabies.