Christy Tashjian NP, Midwife
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Christy Tashjian, Nurse Practitioner (NP), is available for appointments at Thunder Bay Naturopathic Clinic to address many diverse health situations. Christy leans into her background as a homebirth midwife and works using a collaborative, informed choice model of care, often calling herself a midwife with an NP license, midwifing people through the varied health issues they are navigating.
Some of the health issues Christy can help with are:
For those without a primary care provider or family doctor, she is a good resource for routine lab work monitoring chronic conditions, referrals for diagnostic testing, specialists or health screening, and/or new prescriptions or renewals for known health conditions.
Sexual health of all kinds: perimenopause/menopause care, contraception including IUDs and pills, medical abortion care, pelvic health, pap smears, STI testing, sexual health education, menstrual health/PMS care
Lyme and associated disease testing and treatment based on the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society guidelines. Christy uses an Integrative care approach utilizing both prescription medications and botanical medicine and supplements to help boost immune function and kill off stealthy organisms.
Gender Affirming Care using a relational, collaborative approach. Christy listens intently to patient’s needs and goals, answers questions, monitors lab values, prescribes hormones, and gives comprehensive follow up appointments. As part of her commitment to economic justice in medicine, Christy offers a sliding scale for gender affirming care.
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Christy Tashjian (she/her) NP, midwife, has been an RN since1994 while also studying and then practicing midwifery. After working as a homebirth midwife in Austin, Texas for 16 years, she received a master’s degree in nursing in 2014. She worked as a midwife consultant and educator with the Austin-based Mama Sana Vibrant Woman project focusing on group pregnancy care and perinatal support for low-income people of color. As a midwife, she also supported the LGBTQ+ community, specifically in helping with fertility and conception.
Christy's interest in "outside the box" health care led her to complete Aviva Romm's Functional Medicine for Women course in 2018, which informs much of her practice with clients. She joined the staff of Balcones Ob/Gyn as an NP for two years bringing her varied experience in pregnancy care and women's health to a mainstream practice, before moving to Thunder Bay, Ontario, in 2020 with her wife and child. After two years of bureaucracy, Christy became registered as an NP in Ontario in 2022, where she taught Social Determinants of Health courses in the Lakehead University School of Nursing and worked in a walk-in clinic before settling in at the Thunder Bay Naturopathic Clinic in November 2023. Christy also enjoys her work as the chair of the UN|HUSHED board of directors, a sexuality education organization.
In her current NP position, Christy provides sexual health care, focusing on gender affirming care and perimenopause/menopause care, treatment for chronic Lyme and associated diseases, and some primary care. She attends monthly meetings with peers through Rainbow Health Ontario and CanLyme to stay fully aware of the most important details related to gender affirming care and infection associated chronic illness. This consistent participation supports Christy’s ability to approach these two vastly different areas of health care with curiosity, critical thinking and compassion, allowing a varied and individualized care plan for each client.
Christy is an herb crafter, fiber creatrix, hearth keeper, forest therapy guide, and mom of three who continues to be interested in all aspects of healthcare related to queer/trans folx, women, and those who have fallen through the cracks of medical model care. She especially enjoys building relationships with her clients and increasing access to holistic and edgy health information.
