About Hanna
Click here to see Hanna’s resumé.
Hanna’s career working with families began in a small daycare in Connecticut in 1991. Almost immediately Hanna realized she’d stumbled upon her life’s work. Within two years her son was born and she began graduate studies in the field of Human Development and Family Relations at the University of Connecticut.
The birth of her son was a transformative experience that moved Hanna to learn all she could about birth and the postpartum period. She discovered the benefits of infant massage when her baby was four weeks old. Turning to a couple of books on infant massage that she’d received as gifts, Hanna found that the nightly massage not only brought respite from crying, but more importantly, as months passed, gave the gift of communication, love, mutual respect, and connection that has been her family’s foundation ever since.
Hanna’s own experiences were the seed of her desire to support other new families through the journey of birth and parenting. In addition to earning her MA, she became a certified infant massage instructor (IAIM), childbirth educator (Lamaze and Birthing from Within), and parent educator (Parents as Teachers Program). Currently Hanna is a Parent Educator at First Steps in Ann Arbor and a facilitator of the Postpartum Depression Support Group of the Greater Ann Arbor Area.
Most recently, In 2007 Hanna had the opportunity to co-design classes at My Urban Toddler in Saline, MI. The owner, Rosa Lee, envisioned a space where families could have three experiences in one location: an imagination-driven play area, a shop with trendy yet meaningful items, and a space for family-focused classes. The play space and shop were successfully running, and in January 2008, The Learning Center was born! Hanna’s role has been to design many of the classes, hire facilitators, and oversee the “in and outs” of offering classes to our community.
Working with parents, infants, and children in a variety of settings has given Hanna a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience. But by far, the greatest teacher has been her son, and the best classroom, her family.
