About Mothering Nutrition

I have been a practising Clinical Nutritionist and Naturopath for more than 12 years. My work experience with women and mums is diverse; I have worked in private practice in Melbourne, on family planning programs for women in Asia and the Pacific, developed and rolled out healthy eating programs for migrant mothers and worked on public health issues for women including diabetes and food security.

Like every mum, I am a busy! My two toddlers are busy little, boundary pushing people who let me win a few battles each day in the areas of healthy eating and physical activity. I have learnt as a mum that when I am healthy my family is healthy too. When I make the right food choices for me and listen to my body I feel tip top and as a result have the energy, patience and creativity needed to play and parent all day. As mums we are told to ‘take time out’ and ‘to look after ourselves’ but this can be hard to do, especially if our nutrient intake is poor. How can you participate fully in a yoga class when you haven’t fuelled your body sufficiently?

I have created Mothering Nutrition to change the emphasis of my work and to focus my expertise on mums. I aim to provide a flexible and supportive service giving mums the opportunity to see me in their own homes, in my clinics, online or anywhere in between. This allows for a relaxed and flexible meeting arranged around nap times, feeding and other family commitments. As a Maternal Nutritionist and Naturopath I can help you to:

• assess your nutritional needs
• identify poor eating habits
• develop a personalised eating plan and solutions to current stumbling blocks
• decipher nutrition fact from fiction
• prepare family meals in a healthy way
• read food labels
• provide information regarding healthy eating/ diets
• choose the foods required for optimal health when pregnant and breastfeeding
• return to a healthy weigh post pregnancy.

I am registered with the Australian National Therapists Association, have private health insurance accreditation and participate in ongoing training and education. I hold a Masters degree in Public Health, a Bachelor of Health Science – Naturopathy and Advanced Diplomas of Nutrition and Herbal Medicine.

Mothering Nutrition services

The services I provide include:

• mobile consultation
• online diet Analysis
• detoxification programs (not for pregnant and breast feeding mothers)
• clinical consultation (Surrey Hills and Torquay)
• cooking demonstrations
• nutrition workshops.

Please contact me for appointments and queries.

My Story

I am a mum to two busy little people. I was running around in circles and I felt like I was not doing anything well. I was fine. My kids were happy and healthy. My husband was happy and healthy, albeit busy with work, fatherhood, and at times managing an emotionally frayed wife. And I was fine (did I mention that already?), my days were passing before I had even realised they were gone. I had slipped into a mom funk and I realised that I was not my happiest, healthiest self anymore. After some reflection I realised that this ‘blah’ feeling was reverberating around our house and I had to act.

This has been my path to Mothering Nutrition. I have many time poor friends who ask for dietary and lifestyle advice; they don’t have the time, energy or childcare support to make it into a clinic for advice. This is when I realised online and mobile services provided by a qualified, evidence based practitioner is an unmet need for mums. We have hairdressers, lactation consultants and nurses come to our homes, even Woolworths and Coles come to our door, so why not a Maternal Nutritionist? It is easy online to find recipes, diet ideas and articles on super foods but something tailored for you by a Clinical Nutritionist (not a computer program or app) is what you need, particularly if you are breastfeeding, pregnant, trying to shift weight or get pregnant again.

I had been told that I needed time out, that I should do yoga, meditate, leave the kids with their grandparents, have date night – yeah right! I didn’t have the energy for that. I needed to get my diet and nutrition in order first. I needed to fuel my body before I could exercise, before I could happily tend to my kids and husband’s needs and stay awake for the duration of a whole movie. As I felt more vibrant, stronger and healthier my temperament improved and my parenting and partnering also became easier and happier. I was back baby!

I had let my dietary and health needs slip in order to focus on my kids nutritional needs and tastes (or so I told myself) and in doing that I had become unhealthy and had created bad habits for the whole family (embarrassing because I have been a Clinical Nutritionist and Naturopath for 12 years!). Once I rectified this I felt that I had some control back. I was teaching my kids good food habits and the time spent concerned on the wellbeing of my family was now in check with the time spent on my own. I was happier and healthier. I had shed the baby weight, I had more energy and my energy levels and moods were balanced. It was the same for my husband, whose diet changed too as a result.

What I love about being a Maternal Nutritionist is providing information and support to mums when they really need it and at a time when nutritional medicine can make a huge impact. It’s a time when many may not have the energy or head space to think about anymore grocery shopping or meal planning and I can give them clear and easy to follow instructions. The advice is no nonsense, its streamlined and easy to follow because who has time for anything else? Working in homes with mums (often with their kids in the background) is relaxed and allows for flexibility.