Local naturopath Melissa Poczwa has returned to Kiama to help people from all walks of life to take control of their health.

A research-based naturopath with a Bachelor of Health Science, she is passionate about guiding people to improve their overall well-being.

She grew up in Kiama and returned to the area in late 2023 to raise her first child and returned to work earlier this year with the Sunny Natal clinic on the corner of Terralong and Shoalhaven streets.

“I work in a holistic way, supporting patients through nutrition, diet changes, herbal and nutritional supplements to help support their symptoms as needed,” she explained.

“Foundationally, we review diet in detail because we are looking to see if there’s anything underlying which might be causing symptoms.

“Something really common I see is iron deficiency so we look at how much intake you get each week. We’re always looking at underlying causes as to why you’re feeling this way and to try to promote them to feeling more like themselves.

“Often we’re looking at their digestion, supporting hormones or energy production. Also when it comes to winter in particular, a lot of immune support.

“Stress and sleep are common for a lot of patients - we’re all under a lot of high pressure these days. Especially with Mums and post-partum, sleep can be a big factor as to why they’re feeling tired.

“A lot of being a naturopath is working with herbal and nutritional medicine as a key focus but looking at them as the whole person rather than just treating one symptom.”

Melissa specialises in supporting women through all stages of life, from period problems and hormonal imbalances to postnatal recovery and perimenopause.

She also has male and female patients “across the stages of their lifespan”.

Melissa will be hosting a baby-friendly Nourishing Busy Parents workshop at Kiama Library on 24 June from 10.30am to 11.15am designed to support new mums with simple, practical nutrition strategies.

Attendees can learn how to meet their daily protein needs for sustained energy, discover easy breakfast ideas and snack hacks, and explore how food can support mood, sleep, and stress levels.

Melissa will provide realistic tips that people can put into practice straight away – even with a baby in tow!

“I’m quite passionate about supporting post-partum mothers and what I commonly see is they’re usually quite nutritionally poor in some ways because they’re doing a great job looking after their little ones and not so much looking after themselves,” she said.

“One of the things they can do to help them feel better - because they’re usually low on energy and feeling high stress - is just working on how to meet their daily protein needs.

“In that event, I’ll be talking about their daily protein requirements as a post-partum female or if they’re breastfeeding, how their requirements increase.

“Quick, easy ideas so they can grab and go if they need to and how they might support their mood, sleep and stress levels because if you’re not looking after yourself, it’s incredibly hard to look after your little ones as well.”

Curious if naturopathy is for you? Start with a free 10-minute discovery call – visit melissapoczwa.com.au to book or find out more.

Info for the Kiama Library Event can be found at the Council website.