Dr Larisa Corda

I really believe in investing in yourself, whether it’s in the form of education or your health, and appreciating what you have going for you. So many people get fixated on the things they don’t have and in my job, this is mainly expressed as a longing to have a child. In this process of waiting to have a baby, people can often lose themselves and their identities.

But this is when investing in yourself becomes really important, finding creative outlets, hobbies, travel, nurturing your mind and soul with things that remind you of who you are and that you are more than just your menstrual cycle and fertility window!

This, in itself, will help you to have a better perspective on your life and be able to remain open minded and adjust as necessary. Sometimes the path we have predetermined in our heads isn’t necessarily the road we end up taking, which can lead us on to even bigger and better things than we ever thought possible.

I love dedicating time in the day to myself, no matter how busy I may get, because I really believe it helps me to function at my best. I do a really stressful job and the demands and commitments I have mean that it’s even more important to have some time for stillness in my day.

This is either in the form of meditation, yoga, having a nice bath or writing in my journal with a calming mug of herbal tea before bedtime. Having a short morning and evening ritual helps to ground me and cultivates a self respect that makes me feel grateful for what I have and allows me to give the best of myself to my family, friends and patients.

I’m super excited to help to offer advice and education on all things gynaecology and fertility related. The stigma surrounding womens’ health issues is huge, and is leading many women to suffer in silence, creates delays in diagnosis, and prevents access to treatment on time. In addition to which it creates debilitating mental health issues that propagate the stigma even further.

The biggest part of changing this is raising awareness and getting women to feel empowered to understand their own bodies and make decisions based on this, no matter what their age. My job as a doctor naturally lends itself to being an ambassador for women, and I passionately believe that this extends not just to my medical practice, but to my public health roles too, where I campaign on several issues affecting womens health.

I want to help inspire women and men to understand that there is a huge amount that they can do holistically to improve their own health and fertility, when they have the correct advice and education to act on. The womens’ health movement is growing, calling for a greater need in discussing taboo topics and practising preventative and lifestyle medicine, and I’m excited to be a part of it and to share it with you.

I love pasta and if allowed, I would literally eat it every day! As it is, I have to curb myself from all those carbs, but when I have just 10 minutes to prepare something, it’s my go to dish.

I chose spelt (or another wheat free version) and gluten free pasta where possible, because it doesn’t leave me feeling heavy, and as that’s cooking, I make my own tomatoe sauce by slicing up several heritage tomatoes of different shapes and sizes, seasoning, and adding olive oil.

I then add whatever I have, whether it be a bit of spinach or pine nuts, tofu or vegetarian mince. I let that simmer down, the secret being to add a bit of the water from the pasta to thicken it up, and then add the pasta at the end. And voila, that’s my supper at the end of a long shift at work!