Seminar Stage
Ann Douglas
Ann Douglas is the author of 23 books, including (most recently) the second Canadian and American editions of The Mother of All Pregnancy Books (Wiley Canada, 2011, Wiley US, 2012); and The Mother of All Baby Books (Wiley Canada, 2012). The books in The Mother of All book series have sold over half a million copies in North America to date.
A passionate and inspiring speaker, Ann delivers keynote addresses and leads small-group workshops at health and parenting conferences across the country. She has created and delivered parenting courses for high-profile websites such as WebMD and AOL as well as on behalf of government clients and Fortune-500 companies.
You can find out more about Ann by visiting www.having-a-baby.com
Dr. Michael (Mickey) Lester B.A., M.D., FRCPC
Dr. Mickey Lester was born on August 11, 1938 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1964.
He began his consultant and general paediatric practice more than 40 years ago and currently runs a private and consulting practice in Mississauga, Ontario, providing paediatric care for children from birth to 18 years of age.
During his 40 plus years as a paediatrician, Dr. Lester has had more than 300,000 visits to his office.
In June, 2012, Dr. Lester released his first book entitled, "Say AAAH": A Common Sense A to Z Guide to those 'AAAHsome' Years Newborn to Age 5'. Dr. Lester is married with 4 children and 7 grandchildren.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Regular price $36.95 plus HST Show price $30.00 taxes included
Book can be purchased by cash or cheque only. (no credit cards)
Say "AAAH": A Common Sense A to Z Guide to Those AAAHsome years Newborn to Age 5, was written by Dr. Michael (Mickey) Lester, B.A., M.D, FRCPC and released in June, 2012.
Background: Say "AAAH" was 25 years in the making --- the culmination of the experience, observations and tips Dr. Mickey Lester gleaned from his paediatric practice. During this time, Dr. Lester treated thousands of children while striving to allay the fears and anxieties of their parents by providing them hand-outs with important tips and pertinent information on baby and child care.
Available for purchase online at www.drmickeylester.com
Brian Russell
Brian is the Provincial Coordinator for Dad Central Ontario, which is devoted to promoting responsible father involvement in Ontario and has acted as a catalyst for other provinces and territories within Canada to form their own regional father initiatives.
Brian is also a Parent Education Worker with the LAMP Ontario Early Years Services in Toronto, ON where he strives to encourage and support families with young children. His main focus is on working with fathers, 
encouraging them to be responsibly involved with their children.
Having a background in Marriage and Family Therapy, Brian brings an important perspective to the couple relationship in families, where trust and respect are key elements to building strong families. He is married with three incredible teenage daughters. www.dadcentral.ca
Jill Davies, M.Sc., CCGC
Jill Davies is the Genetics Program Director at the Medcan Clinic. With over 10 years of experience in genetic counselling, Jill works in partnership with Geneticist Dr. Lea Velsher to develop and deliver leading-edge preventive genetic services at Medcan. Prior to joining Medcan, Jill provided genetic counselling services related to prenatal and general genetics at the Rouge Valley Health System. During her years in practice, she has provided a range of genetic services, from classical genetics to genomics,. Her focus is to bring the most advanced genetics knowledge and testing options to individuals in Canada. Jill received her Master of Science degree in Genetic Counselling from the University of Manchester, UK. She is a Canadian board certified genetic counsellor and an active member of the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors (CAGC) and the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC).
Prenatal screening options and new technology
Prenatal screening provides important information to expectant parents and there have been significant advances in testing technology that has only recently become available in Canada. Jill Davies, Director of Genetics at the Medcan Clinic, will provide an overview of the screening and diagnostic options for the detection of chromosome abnormalities in pregnancy and speak about the latest technology, Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT), which use a blood sample from the mother. She will provide an overview of this new testing option and answer frequently asked questions about prenatal screening including “Does NIPT replace amniocentesis?” and “My first trimester screening showed that I’m at high risk for Down Syndrome– what does this mean?”
Lianne Phillipson-Webb Dip. ION RNCP
Lianne Phillipson-Webb is a Registered Nutritionist, author and founder Sprout Right - Nutrition from Tummy to Toddler. She shares her expert nutrition advice for families on Canada AM, CHCH Morning Live, Global Morning Live, CityLine and contributes to Today’s Parent and has a weekly blog on iVillage.ca. As a mom of two daughters, she understands striving to make the best food choices at every meal. Sprout Right offers a host of supportive services, including consultations, cooking classes, meal plans and products that help families learn how and why it’s important to eat super nutritious food.
Core Expectations
Samantha Montpetit-Huynh, CPTN-CPT, PFS, NWS, RAB, is the founder of Core Expectations, Toronto’s only full service wellness team that provides in home personal training, abdominal rehabilitation and other support services to the homes and offices of pregnant women and new moms across the GTA.
As a wife and mother of two girls, Samantha has experienced first hand the many challenges that go hand in hand with pregnancy and the physical and psychological impacts that can result. Samantha specializes in pre & postnatal exercise training, which includes abdominal rehabilitation for the treatment of Diastasis Recti as well as pelvic floor and overall “core” re-training.
Samantha is known extensively in her field and has shared her expertise on CTV News, Breakfast Television, Rogers Daytime and Hamilton CHCH. She is one of the contributing experts of the new Today’s Parent Healthy Pregnancy Guide, and has been featured in Oh Baby Magazine, Eco Parent, and other local print and online magazines.
Frances Lea, H.N.C. is a wife of more than 20 years, mother of two beautiful girls and a Holistic Nutritionist Consultant. Since becoming interested in nutrition, she has not only changed the way of life of her own family but the lives of those around her. As a mom, Frances can empathize, bringing understanding and knowledge to fitting healthy eating into a busy life. She has a special interest in working with families on a whole and getting their health in order.
Frances brings to our team many years of life experience and expertise that she shares with passion and as a result, her clients reap the rewards.
La Leche League Canada
Pregnant? Learn how to help get breastfeeding off to a good start. Already breastfeeding? Hear tips on avoiding difficulties and overcoming challenges. Find out how La Leche League Canada fits into your breastfeeding support network.
La Leche League is a charitable, volunteer-run organization that provides mother-to-mother support and breastfeeding information.
Safe Sleep For Your Baby
Yolanda delivers workshops and presentations addressing SIDS and Safe Sleep for infants. She targets a wide variety of audiences such as; new and expectant mothers, childcare providers, educators such as public health and hospital staff. She has provided training to all Catholic Children's Aid Society staff and foster parents throughout the Toronto district. She has made many television appearances such as being on CP24, The Dr. Karl Show speaking with the Chief Coroner of Ontario to educate viewers and listeners all about safe sleep. Yolanda is extremely involved with the RNAO Focus Group to create Guidelines for all nurses across Ontario on the topic of safe sleep. She also speaks at various Ontario Early Years’ programs and other community events, while volunteering her time to attend trade shows and informational seminars.
She is currently working on a nationwide project to replace loose blankets in hospitals with wearable blankets, and to encourage a new way of modelling safe sleep in all hospitals.
She will be presenting at the Annual Education Program for Coroners and Pathologists at a session dedicated to investigation of Paediatric deaths, giving a parents perspective.
Her contribution in educating her community on the lifesaving message of safe sleep for infants has been extraordinary and invaluable to the lives that she has touched.
She has gained the admiration and respect of healthcare professionals across the province and is recognized as an expert in the field of infant safe sleep.
Dr. Guy-Paul Gagné MD, FRCSC, FSOGC
Dr. Guy-Paul Gagné is an obstetrician and gynaecologist. He assisted in over 10,000 births during his career. He currently teaches the MOREOB (Managing Obstetrical Risks Efficiently) Program in collaboration with the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC). Dr. Gagné is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, McGill University and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada.
Protecting Your Baby from Stress During Pregnancy and Childbirth
During pregnancy, childbirth and even for some time after birth, the mother and her baby are functionally one entity. Their relationship of love, mutual dependency, and bonding seem to depend on the fragile equilibrium of a “cocktail of hormones” that they share.
Too much stress at any moment can disturb this delicate balance and cause problems. With the help of her partner and family, the expectant mother should take care of creating and protecting her “Bubble of Happiness”. This will insure that this most precious time of life will yield the best results during pregnancy, labor, birth and the mother-baby relationship.
Dr. Gagné will present this unique hormonal situation in light of scientific research along with the impact of stress and other factors on the outcome of pregnancy, childbirth and the emotional, behavioural and intellectual development of the child.
Some practical advice will be explored in order to create the best conditions for success including the practice of the scientifically validated Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique for optimal stress management.
Advantages of Stem Cell Storage
Presented by Kayvan Vakili
Cord blood banking has revolutionized the medical field and has been at the forefront of treating previously untreatable diseases such as Leukemia, Lymphoma, Neuroblastoma and a long list of other fatal and debilitating illnesses. Cord blood stem cell transplantation has already helped save the lives of tens of thousands worldwide and is now the premier method physicians choose as treatment for many cancers, especially those affecting children. This educational seminar has been designed with the help of Dr. Yang and will be presented by Kayvan Vakili, Marketing Manager for Progenics. The aim of this seminar is not advertisement, but rather an educational insight into the world of stem cells: What they are? How they are useful? What advantages do they offer over bone marrow? How to choose a bank to store your stem cells? These are some of the most common, yet important questions people may have regarding this procedure and our goal is to help everyone understand all the great benefits of stem cell banking. Join us and learn about this once in a lifetime opportunity to store your baby’s cord blood and possibly save his or her life!