"Becoming a Mom and experiencing my own difficulties with feeding my littles completely changed the way I work with clients, the advice I offer, and the support that I provide."
Meet Karlie. A mom of two, a wife, Speech-Language Pathologist, and Certified Breastfeeding Specialist providing services in newborn, infant and pediatric feeding and swallowing.
Karlie was born and raised in Saskatchewan, Canada and after high school she packed her bags and made her way to the United States to pursue her post-secondary education. Karlie completed her Master's degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Houston in Houston in 2012. For several years she worked primarily at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston supporting both the neonatal and adult populations with feeding and swallowing difficulties. She also worked in the Houston Independent School District supporting children with speech, language, hearing, and feeding disorders. In June 2015, Karlie and her pitbull Gianni made a long road trip back home to Saskatoon, Canada. She began working at the Royal University Hospital in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the Pediatric Unit, and Postpartum Maternal Care Unit.
She has assessed and treated hundreds of children with diagnoses such as traumatic brain injury, cleft palate, failure to thrive, chronic aspiration, oral ties, and picky eating. She has played an integral role in ensuring that all of her clients and patients feel supported and safe along their feeding journeys.
In addition to working in an acute care hospital setting, Karlie has a thriving independent business. Karlie has experienced firsthand the lack of guidance, support, and education that surrounds feeding. New Moms enter into motherhood not truly knowing what to expect or how to tackle feeding struggles along the way. Because of this, Karlie decided to create a program focused on helping to prepare expecting moms for what to expect along their feeding journeys. Whether that journey is breastfeeding, formula feeding, pumping and bottle feeding, or a combination, Karlie is on a mission to help expecting mamas to feel more calm, at ease, prepared, and supported before their baby arrives through her signature program: The Prepped Parent.
In addition to her programs, she offers in-person consultations to those in Saskatchewan who are currently experiencing feeding struggles with their little ones from 0-3 years of age and school aged children with myofunctional disorders and oral ties.
Karlie has become well known in the province of Saskatchewan as a leading expert in oral ties and oral dysfunction in the newborn and infant population. She has done extensive coursework and hands-on workshops to ensure that she has the most up to date knowledge and education to support her clients. Her approach to treating oral ties (tongue, lip, cheek) is primarily to address and facilitate improvements with feeding; however, oral ties can greatly impact orofacial development and function impacting airway formation, sleep, attention, and feeding and are therefore assessed and considered during initial evaluation and treatment.
The secret ingredient to everything Karlie does is her empathy, her compassion, and her desire to truly make every parent and child she works with feel seen, heard, and supported. Karlie is looking forward to not only continuing to provide support to families through her programs and in the hospital setting, but she is also eager to continue growing as a wife, mother, and advocate for mamas across the globe.
Cuddling up with her boys
Going for long walks on the rural roads near her acreage
Picking up toy trucks, cars, and paw patrol toys from all the places around the house and yard because...boys.
Drinking a glass of red when the clock strikes 8pm because...boys.
Celebrating new and expecting mamas who problem solved through their little ones' feeding journeys in true Prepped Parent fashion
