About Jocelyn Land-Murphy
WHO I AM
I am a Whitehorse-based Naturopathic Doctor and mom-of-two with an exclusive focus on reproductive health. My passion for helping women and couples have healthy pregnancies and thriving babies grew out of my own experiences as a mom, and led me to pursue the rigorous training to become a licensed Naturopathic Physician.
HOW I GOT HERE
When I was first pregnant back in 2007, I was overwhelmed with being responsible for the health of my baby in utero. There was so much information out there, and I didn’t know what or whom to trust. I was reading conflicting advice online, and my care provider didn’t have the training to explain both conventional and alternative options like herbal medicine or acupuncture. I spent a lot of time trying to figure it all out and became quite frustrated. In the end, when I ran into challenges with my pregnancy and later my birth, I felt like maybe I had missed a chance to make informed choices that could have led to a healthier pregnancy and a better start for my baby.
My experiences were the turning point I needed to leave a successful career in the environmental sustainability sector and focus on my long-standing interest in health and the human body. I spent the next 9 years learning everything I could about fertility, healthy pregnancies and integrative medicine. After completing my BSc and four years of pre-med studies, and having a second (great!) pregnancy and birth, I continued on to complete another four years of graduate studies to become a Naturopathic Doctor. I was attracted to this type of medicine, not only for its focus on addressing root causes and treating the whole person, but also because I felt the scope of practice (which includes herbal medicine, nutrition, acupuncture, spinal manipulations, and prescription medications) offered the best toolkit to meet my patients’ needs. Throughout naturopathic medical school, I also worked as a volunteer doula, attending the births of low-income women in my community and supporting them through their pregnancies and postpartum periods. As a dedicated life-long learner, I have continued to refine my expertise by taking advanced Continuing Education courses in pregnancy, postpartum, and pediatric care, as well as a two-year Herbal Medicine for Women program. I am incredibly passionate about women’s health care, and whenever there is an opportunity to gain more evidence-based knowledge about how to best care for moms and babies, I am there!
