Gerri Ryan is a California Licensed Midwife and Certified Professional Midwife. She started attending births with family and friends in 1976 and in 1995 took on the role of professional Doula. Gerri began her process of midwifery education in the late nineties. She successfully completed the Seattle Midwifery School Challenge Process and is licensed as a midwife by the Medical Board of California. She began practicing midwifery in 2003 independently. In 2012, Gerri and her midwife daughter Heather LeMaster, L.M., combined their midwifery practices under the name San Diego County Midwives. The mother and baby are a unit, whose medical and emotional needs are complementary. Our emphasis is on pregnancy and birth as a time of physical, psychological, and emotional growth for mother and fetus. We believe that the ability to birth is deep in every woman. When women have confidence in their own abilities, the encouragement and freedom to tap into their innate wisdom, and have the loving support of family, friends and professionals who believe this too, they will truly have a satisfying birth. San Diego County Midwives provide highly personalized midwifery care for expecting families desiring a home birth. We provide other midwifery services as well including well-woman care for women of all ages, pre-pregnancy counseling, nutritional counseling, monitrice services, and lactation assistance. We bring respect, gentleness, trust and love to the process of giving birth such that families experience dignity, safety, joy and transformation as they welcome a new life into their arms. We are a voice for normalcy in pregnancy and birth and we believe that all families benefit significantly from the Midwifery Model of Care. With our knowledge, wisdom, compassion and vitality, we stand for childbearing women and their families.