Hannah Freiwald

Foundress

Hannah arrived in Guatemala from Germany in 1988. Shortly after, her first daughter was born via cesarean section. This was the result of the cascade of interventions a healthy woman in labor can experience upon arriving at a hospital: she received excessive doses of synthetic oxytocin and developed a Bandl ring, a warning sign that the uterus is at risk of rupturing. It wasn't detected by the attending obstetrician, but by her own mother, an anesthesiologist.

Hannah felt that the experience of childbirth had been stolen from her. Two years later, she gave birth to her second daughter at home, naturally, assisted by the community's traditional midwife. She knew then that she wanted to prevent other women from going through what she had, and she asked the midwife to teach her. Her answer was clear: "No. First learn, and then you can come with me." Shortly afterward, her son was born at home, at 37 weeks, in one of the midwife's last deliveries; she was blind with age but still fully capable.

Hannah trained as a midwife at La Luz Maternity Hospital in El Paso, Texas, and returned to Guatemala to attend births. In 1997, Diana, the youngest of her four children, was born, and Hannah continued to assist women with childbirth, gynecological checkups, and perinatal health.

In 2007, Planned Parenthood approached her with a proposal to open a family planning center. After some consideration, she declined. She proposed something else: a birthing center where women in the community with limited resources could have all their sexual and reproductive health needs met. Thus, the AMA model was born in 2008. Hannah led it during its early years and continued working with the team, alongside her private practice, until 2023.

In 2023, at the age of 57, after more than 35 years of work, some 3,000 babies delivered, and hundreds of women supported, she received a terminal cancer diagnosis. She left midwifery, her home in Guatemala, her animals, and her practice. With great conviction, meditation, prayer, and alternative and experimental treatments, against all odds, she is now cancer-free. She lives a quieter life in Germany, her native country, caring for horses, another of her great passions.

Her journey not only gave rise to AMA, but also shaped how we work. For Diana, CEO since 2022, her mother's battle with cancer was a blessing that put everything into perspective. From this experience emerged a culture of self-care, resilience, and commitment that we now share across the entire team, many of whom were shaped by Hannah.