Dr. Oluwatoyin ‘Bode-Abass is an integrative health and wellness consultant. She studied Medicine and Surgery at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, where she finished in the top ten of her graduating class. Dr. ‘Bode-Abass is passionate about health promotion and disease prevention.
Oluwatoyin is the founder of TBA Integrative Health and Wellness Hub, a consultancy where she ties healthful eating, active living, behavior modification and a healthy lifestyle to disease prevention, health promotion and reversal of diseases. She believes that traditional approaches to the current lifestyle disease crisis are misdirected. These traditional efforts are reactive – because they wait until after individuals have been stricken with lifestyle diseases, and then offer treatment. Her approach, which emphasizes disease prevention and good health promotion is much more proactive.
Her vision is to position TBA Integrative Health and Wellness Hub as the voice in the national discourse shaping the future of healthcare in Nigeria. One that shifts the focus of health from curative to preventive using patient-centred approach; ultimately reducing the cost of health care delivery and improving national and global health indices.
Oluwatoyin is married to her college sweetheart, ‘Bode. The wedding took place barely three months after she underwent a major gynecological surgery with both of them knowing that the prognosis could affect their chances of having children. After nearly eight years of an arduous journey from infertility to conception, they are blessed with a son, Oluwalani.
With the knowledge that there are many couples who are facing the challenges of childlessness, Oluwatoyin wrote the book “Range” – an autobiography which chronicles her formative years, her orientation, how she found love and her long, arduous journey from infertility to motherhood – to encourage those facing the challenge of childlessness to hold on to the love they have for each other, to have faith in God and hope for the miracle to manifest in their lives. Oluwatoyin said this about what motivated her to write the book: “It dawned on me that I had the weird privilege of having theoretical knowledge of infertility as a doctor and experiential knowledge as a patient. I have a vantage viewpoint. One that is real and relatable. I realised it is important that I share my story and lend my ‘voice’ to change the discourse on infertility in the hope of dispelling the stigma that is associated with it. I have been through fire, and I survived it. I am returning with truckloads of water to help those still consumed by the fire.”
Oluwatoyin also runs the Range Foundation with her husband, which was set up to help other couples facing struggles with infertility. The Foundation provides support to couples dealing with infertility in form of medical advisory, emotional, social, spiritual and financial advice. Range Foundation’s objectives are to see that every couple has a chance at parenthood irrespective of their socio-economic status and to lend a voice to dispel the stigma that surrounds infertility with the hope that couples battling infertility can wade through their journey with dignity.
Oluwatoyin has also authored a book titled “Wellness Found Me”, in which she shares her personal experience and some insights into how to get started on one’s health and wellness journey and begin to appreciate the importance of taking a proactive approach to health and nutrition, with the understanding that it is cheaper to prevent disease than to treat chronic conditions. The book promotes what she advocates – having a good body image and loving your body the way it is right now while you work to achieve a healthier body. According to Oluwatoyin, “Wellness is simply striving for health through mind, body and spirit.”
Dr. Oluwatoyin ‘Bode-Abass will be one of the speakers at the Pride Women Conference 2018 where she will be speaking on “When Conception is a Challenge – The Arduous Journey from Infertility to Motherhood.”