IAIM Trainers

Sylvie has been an international trainer and Certified Infant Massage Instructor with the IAIM for over 30 years. She has pioneered infant massage in Canada, as well as in various countries around the world, including South Africa, Hungary and Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia. Sylvie was the President of the IAIM for 12 years and has been a member of the IAIM International Educational Committee for 18 years. Sylvie can affirm that she has witnessed the benefits of the IAIM program with families all around the world.

Sylvie has a diploma in nutrition from Maisonneuve College (1976) and a BSc degree in Education from Montréal University (1980). Sylvie is also a qualified Steiner-teacher trained with l’Institut Rudolf Steiner au Québec (1998). She has taught primary school, as well as biology and nutrition lessons to teenagers, and is an international lecturer on parenting and education. Sylvie is a mother of three grown children. 

Sylvie is also the co-founder of the Massage in Schools Program (2000), along with her Swedish colleague Mia Elmsäter. Furthermore, Sylvie is the author of The Song of the Child (2004), co-author of Touch in Schools: a Revolutionary Strategy to Replace Bullying by Respect and to Reduce Violence (2010), and has a published chapter (The Myth of Early Stimulation for Babies) in the book Too Much Too Soon (2011).

Sylvie is currently working on her next two books; one will focus on protecting babies' brains, while the other looks into her “one million miles in the air” following her travels and cultural experiences.

Wanda's journey with infant massage began in 1997 when, as a new parent, she attended an IAIM infant massage class at her local family resource centre. Experiencing the profound impact of nurturing touch on her own family inspired a lifelong passion for supporting parents and babies. She became a Certified Infant Massage Instructor in 2011 and has been sharing the IAIM program with families across Nova Scotia ever since. Today, she is honoured to serve as an IAIM Trainer, helping prepare the next generation of instructors.

With a degree in Psychology and more than 25 years of experience supporting families through pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and early parenting, Wanda brings a broad perspective to her teaching. Her work is grounded in evidence-based information, trauma-informed practice, and deep respect for the unique strengths, choices, and relationships of every family. She believes parents are the experts on their own babies and considers the families she has supported to be her greatest teachers.

Wanda has trained birth doulas since 2017, has served on the IAIM Canada Board since 2022, and was honoured to receive the IWK Board Award for Community Excellence (2025–2026) in recognition of her commitment to improving the health and well-being of children and families.

As an IAIM Trainer, Wanda is passionate about preparing instructors who will empower parents and primary caregivers to build secure attachment, confidence, and loving communication with their babies through nurturing touch. She believes that by strengthening relationships in the earliest years of life, we can create healthier families, stronger communities, and a more compassionate world.