At the age of 14, Laurie Proulx first started showing signs of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Today, Proulx is the mother of two children, and her personal experiences with pregnancy and motherhood led her to spearhead a project with the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA) creating a resource that was the first of its kind – a guide to pregnancy and parenting with arthritis, written for patients BY patients.
Once Proulx’s original resource was complete, Mariah Leach from Mamas Facing Forward helped update these resources – based on experiences learned from real patients, updated data on medications, and newer recommendations for medical providers when it comes to reproductive health. The updated resources were reviewed by CAPA Medical Advisory Committee and two leading health care professionals and researchers in the field of reproductive issues, parenting, and rheumatic disease: Dr. Mary De Vera and Dr. Catherine Backman.
Although aimed specifically at patients living with inflammatory arthritis, many of the topics are also generally relevant to patients living with any chronic illness.
The CAPA resources, created BY patients FOR patients, cover the following topics:
🌟 Pregnancy, Birth, and Beyond
🌟 Sexuality and Family Planning
🌟 Medication Use During Pregnancy
