Meet the CCY staff
Patty Brennan, Director of the Center for the Childbearing Year, has been an advocate for childbearing families for 25 years as a childbirth educator, doula, and midwife. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College and has served on the faculties of both Washtenaw Community College and Schoolcraft College. In 1999, Patty established the charitable Doulas Care community-based doula program, serving families throughout southeastern Michigan, and oversaw the development of that program through 2007. She is the editor of Whole Family Recipes — for the Childbearing Year & Beyond, and author of Guide to Homeopathic Remedies for the Birth Bag and Vaccine Choices, Homeopathic Alternatives, & Parental Choice. Her work has been published in the Journal of Nurse Midwifery, Midwifery Today, The International Doula, and many other publications. Patty also produced the video Trusting Nature: Today’s Traditional Midwife. She is a Certified Birth Doula and Certified Postpartum Doula and approved doula trainer through DONA International.
Janetlynne Erickson has been providing education and support to families for many years on CPR (AHA), Childbirth Preparation (Lamaze), Breastfeeding (IBCLC), Car Seats (CPST), Safe Sitter Babysitting, and a host of additional topics related to early family life. She enjoys being with families as a doula (DONA). Additionally, she has a Bachelors of Nursing degree from Madonna University and is currently working on graduate programs in education and as a family nurse practitioner. Janet is also the proud parent of a special needs child, who enriches her world daily. She teaches CPR and Infant Safety classes at the Center.
Hanna Kitchens is 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 Ann Arbor and a facilitator of the Postpartum Depression Support Group of the Greater Ann Arbor Area. In addition, she has a Masters degree in Human Development and Family Relations and is a mentor and postpartum doula. Working with parents, infants, and children in a variety of settings over the past 17 years 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. Hanna’s own experiences were the seed of her desire to support other new families through the journey of birth and parenting.
Barbara Dawn Robertson, MA, IBCLC, has been involved in education for over twenty years. She received a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education in 1988 and her Masters in Education in 1995. Barbara left teaching elementary students in 1995 to raise her two children, Colin and Emily. Her children lead her to become involved in La Leche League and in 1998 she became a La Leche Leader. She enjoyed this work so much that she decided to sit for the International Lactation Consultant Exam in 2004 and became a board certified lactation consultant. Barbara is the Director/Owner of The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor, located on site at the Center for the Childbearing Year. She teaches breastfeeding classes for parents, runs support groups, trains professionals, and is in private practice as a lactation consultant. She loves working with mothers and babies, helping them with breastfeeding problems in whatever way she can.
Kate Stroud is a certified birth doula (DONA), approved birth doula trainer (pending, DONA), certified childbirth educator (pending, ALACE), certified massage therapist, and mother of two children. She has been working with pregnant women and their families since 2000 and teaches Childbirth Preparation, Newborn & Infant Care, and DONA Birth Doula Workshops at the Center. Kate has a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Eastern Michigan University and enjoys making pregnant belly casts. She is also the publisher/editor of The Birth Project, a quarterly magazine that talks about and normalizes birth and issues around birth.
Jamie Wazenkewitz serves as the Administrative Assistant for the Center and instructor for our Newborn Care 101 class. She is a facilitator of the Miscarriage & Newborn Loss Support Group with the Lamaze Family Center of Ann Arbor. Jamie is a dual masters student at the University of Michigan studying Social Work and Public Health, and has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Whitman College. She has experience in early childhood parent education and was an autism verbal/social skills therapist for several years. She has a son, Dylan, and loves supporting families in their childbearing and parenting years.