Midwifery Care for San Luis Obispo County!
Serving all of the CA Central Coast
We are so happy that you are interested in learning more about Birth Center & Home Birth! It is an honor to work with families during this very special time of their lives. We are a Faith based practice and believe that women were miraculously created and are quite capable of giving birth. We believe babies are blessings. We believe pregnancy, birth and postpartum are sacred and should be treated as such.
We specialize in individualized care. During the prenatal period we strive to really get to know each family in order to establish a close relationship of trust. We take a limited number of families each month so that we can give you the attention and care you deserve.
We are passionate about serving families and empowering them to have natural, safe and peaceful births.
We serve all of the California Central Coast providing Home Birth & Birth Center Births. You can learn more about the services we provided here.
Please contact us if you would like to schedule a consultation.
Our Midwifery Team
Tanya Walker, Licensed & Certified Midwife
Practicing Midwife Since 2004
Tanya Walker, LM, CPM, founder of Nature’s Way Midwifery and the Oasis Birth Center. First and foremost, I am the proud mother of 5. I gave birth 31 years ago in a hospital setting and that experience set the course of my calling as a midwife. I knew there had to be another way.
I am Licensed by the Medical Board of California and Certified by the North American Registry of Midwives. My studies in midwifery started in 1999 while preparing to have my second child at home. I have been attending births for 25 years. I have had the privilege of helping hundreds of families birth in the privacy and comfort of their own homes and now also in our beautiful Birth Center. Witnessing the miracle of birth and helping people find their innate wisdom and power is my passion.
I was trained with both traditional and licensed midwives. I started my own practice in Bend, Oregon in 2004. I obtained my National Certification by way of NARM in 2008. I completed the National Midwifery Institute requirements in order to qualify for California licensure when I moved here to the Central Coast in 2011. Midwifery has shaped my life in ways I never would have imagined and I am forever grateful to God that I was called to do this work.
I am one of founding members of The Bridge Midwives working to building the bridge between traditional and modern midwifery practices and working to preserve the sanctity of the tradition of midwifery.
Additionally, I attended Oregon State University with a focus in Women’s Studies, Science and Anthropology. I spend a great deal of time attending continuing education courses in order to stay current with the latest research and evidenced based information. I am also a Certified Breathwork teacher.
During my free time, you can find me spending time with my precious family, hiking, surfing, practicing hot power yoga, attending live music events with friends, traveling, or listening to my favorite birth related podcasts.
Hannah Wassenberg, Licensed & Certified Midwife
Being a parent is one of the greatest honors I have experienced in my life. A close second is supporting women bringing babies into the world. It’s no surprise that my life is centered around these two things. Birth is an incredible journey that deserves to be guided by one’s own beliefs and self knowledge, and my role is to support my clients in the process of that discovery.
I became deeply interested in birth work after the home birth of my first child in 2012 with my amazing midwife, Tanya Walker. I discovered that birth is not just a physiologic process, but also a spiritual journey to the heart of your being and back again with your baby. When I met my first daughter, I looked around the room at all the amazing people that supported me, and I knew I would become a midwife.
My background:
I graduated from Bard College, NY with my Bachelor’s of Science in Molecular Biology in 2004, and spent the next few years studying yoga, eventually living at the ashram, Mount Madonna Center. After moving to SLO with my husband, and having our daughter, I completed doula training, attending births as a doula and learning from midwives. I began attending births as a midwife assistant right after the home birth of my second daughter in 2016, enrolled in formal midwifery training in 2018 through National Midwifery Institute and graduated in 2025. In that time, I have attended over 80 births, in both home and birth center settings, attending additional births in the hospital setting. In over half of these births, I held the primary midwife role. Over the past 12 years, I’ve had the privilege to learn from and be mentored by many different amazing midwives in our community, honing my practice modality in the process.
I was recently awarded one of three Biddy Mason Black Midwifery scholarships in California this year, aimed at supporting new black midwives striving to serve their communities in California, a mission very close to my heart. I am excited to work alongside the next generation of midwives and to volunteer my services in communities that do not have access to care during pregnancy.
Marisa Coffee, Doula & Midwife Assistant
Hi, My name is Marisa Coffee, yep, just like your favorite drink. Most importantly, I am the mother of 3 amazing grown children and recently became a Grandmother. I am also a certified doula and have assisted in many births over the years.
My oldest that was born in a hospital set my path for different choices in birth. My middle child was born with a nurse midwife and my youngest was born at home in Bend, Oregon with Tanya Walker as my midwife 21 years ago. I was raised here on the Central Coast. When I moved back I encouraged Tanya to relocate to our area to fill in a much underserved place at the time for families here.
I began working with her in 2011 after I witnessed her give birth by choice unassisted in my living room. Between my own beautiful empowerment in birthing at home and watching Tanya have an ecstatic birth my deep trust in our bodies ability was born.
I have a 30 year background in body work and skin care and a deep love and roots in herbalism. I feel overjoyed to fulfill this constant hum/calling and serving our families in our community.
Grace Willkomm, Student Midwife & Doula
Hi, my name is Grace Willkomm! I was born and raised on the Central Coast and am currently a student at the Midwives College of Utah, where I am following my calling to study midwifery.
My journey into birth work began while studying kinesiology at Cal Poly, where I discovered midwifery and felt as though I had uncovered a hidden treasure. Since then, I have trained as a doula and begun learning to be a BirthFit coach, expanding my ability to support families with both emotional and physical preparation for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
I view birth as a sacred and transformative experience and feel blessed to walk alongside families in such meaningful moments. It is an honor to witness the vulnerable moments that come with this journey.
When I’m not at the Birth Center, you’ll often find me outdoors soaking up the sunshine, moving my body, enjoying the ocean, or baking something sweet!
Doula, Lactation Specialist, Placenta Encapsulator
Meet Jenny! Jenny’s own path as a woman, healer and mother lead her to explore birth. Her own personal journey of birthing her twins without the need for cesarean and 2 other children in the hospital system despite the pressure to have interventions she knew were not in alignment with her, she was able to birth all 4 of her babies on her terms by advocating for herself. She has a deep belief in informed choice and education in the childbearing years. Jenny completed her doula training through an international program that has allowed her to offer support across cultural lines. She is a trained lactation consultant, massage therapist and esthetician. She specializes in both birth and postpartum support and body work. She offers both placenta encapsulation and art. Jenny’s compassionate spirit ignites in the empowerment of women and their right to birth however they choose!