Working Mothers project - Teacher

Where do we start with Hannah. She is a strong, beautiful and caring woman. Hannah began her career is a Primary school Teacher long before having her son. She was married to the man she had been with for 13 years, she had gone back to work when her son was 7 months, however Hannah was faced with an unexpected divorce when her son was just 10 months old. Many would cave in and give up, it takes a strong woman to overcome that and Hannah did just that. She continued her work, she continued raising her son. Hannah is providing for herself and her son, she is her sons positive role model. The bond between them both is just beautiful, and that is all because of Hannah. Using the support system around her Hannah is gradually finding being a single parent easier, having her ups and downs, even missing out on some milestone firsts, Hannah still fights for what she believes in.

"I work with a fantastic team of people who, along with my manager, are very kind and understanding if I need to take the occasional day off to look after him if he's really poorly. I love my job, I always have, but sometimes it is tiring being up in the night and going to work all week, and I do miss the special moments like his first swimming lesson. But it's worth it, and we make the most of every weekend and the holidays. When I look back on what I overcame in the first year of being a Mummy - a traumatic birth and my little boy having group B strep, post natal depression and PTSD, going back to work whilst still breastfeeding and separating from my partner of 13 years, I am proud of myself which is usually a statement to be frowned upon. However I think us Mummy's need to give ourselves more credit for what we can and have already achieved. We are stronger than we know." - Hannah Smith