Meet the Team
Between Michelle Gerbi and Ami Burnham, Gorge Lactation & Wellness brings over 40 years of combined experience supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood.
Our shared goal is to create a supportive environment where parents feel seen, heard, and empowered with clear, evidence-based information. We offer compassionate, non-judgmental care so that each family can make the decisions that feel right for them—whether that means working through feeding challenges, easing physical recovery, or finding steadiness in the early days of parenting.
We’re proud to be part of a strong local network of providers dedicated to helping families in the Columbia River Gorge thrive.
Michelle Gerbi, DC, IBCLC, PMH-C
Michelle is passionate about supporting families through the transition of pregnancy and early parenthood with an approach that integrates lactation care, gentle chiropractic, craniosacral therapy, and postpartum functional health medicine. She believes every family deserves individualized care that honors both the physical and emotional aspects of recovery.
Michelle’s earliest work with mothers and babies began over 20 years ago during chiropractic school, where she focused exclusively on the unique needs of pregnant and postpartum women and infants. From there, she became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, birth educator, and perinatal health coach; later achieving additional certification in perinatal mental health.
As a mother of two boys, Michelle has personally experienced many of the same challenges that her clients face. Those experiences—both humbling and deeply human—have given her a greater appreciation for the complexity of postpartum recovery and the resilience of families. They also shape her compassionate, practical approach to care, bridging clinical insight with lived understanding.
Her practice blends clinical expertise with deep empathy and a commitment to collaborative care, helping families feel supported and empowered as they navigate the early seasons of parenthood.
Ami Burnham, LDM, RN, IBCLC
Ami Burnham is a Licensed Midwife, Registered Nurse, and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, as well as an artist, partner, and mother of two. She has dedicated more than 20 years to supporting families throughout the childbearing years.
Ami has been invited to speak at obstetric and midwifery conferences and has taught midwifery and lactation in Haiti and Sierra Leone. Her experience spans hospitals, birth centers, college classrooms, and home visits—always grounded in compassion and respect for each family’s experience.
Ami and her family moved to Hood River in 2020, where she continues to practice as a lactation consultant, nurse, professor, and herbalism student. She speaks modest conversational Spanish, and our practice also offers on-demand Spanish interpretation for more complex lactation needs. We warmly welcome our Spanish-speaking families and are committed to accessible, inclusive care.
Hear What Clients Say About Michelle and Ami
Michelle
She helped to fill an emotional void I didn’t even know I needed filled, a headache I couldn’t get to go away, and the healing of my C-Section. Michelle had all the answers and whatever she recommended, worked for me. I recommend her to any new Mom. We’ll follow her through fire. If she says we’ll make it through it, we will. She’s helpful, non-judgmental and so knowledgeable. I always leave feeling taller than when I came in. I recommend her for her knowledge and her human kindness.
I’m a mom of 8 and with Michelle, I’ve felt really heard as a Mom. Even as an experienced Mom, you go through things that are new as well. Michelle has worked with me and my kids on postpartum recovery, tongue tie, and mostly recently with craniosacral therapy for my youngest. It’s amazing, after the second session, she popped her head right up. She was like a totally different baby. She’s been growing and thriving ever since.
Dr. Gerbi saved my life. Around 4 months postpartum, I struggled with really scary thoughts. I kept remembering something Dr. Gerbi had told me. Since then she has been one of the biggest reasons why I am a happy and healthy Mom physically and mentally. I recommend her to everyone for every reason.
Ami
Ami were so instrumental in me being able to breast feed. I called you from the hospital asking you to come in, as my first experience with breast feeding with my day old daughter left me with nipples that had been chewed raw. You were so gracious and kind. You explained to me how to latch, and how when a baby feeds it is like a gourmet meal at Gary Denko's. Ami gave me the ability to bf for 7.5 months. I had so much milk and our daughter thrived. I am immensely grateful to your kind heart and gift of explaining something so well that I remember it to this day, and smile at the memory.
Ami was terrifically helpful in the early days of new motherhood. When breastfeeding seemed impossibly hard, as it did at first, she was compassionate, knowledgeable, and kind. Despite early difficulties, with Ami's guidance and encouragement, my daughter and I learned together to be very good breast feeders, and kept it up for almost three years! Overall, what makes Ami such a terrific resource is not just her training and deep knowledge, it is also her general kindness, good humor and her calm, easy going personality. She is a joy to work with, and when I remember being a new mother, I will always remember her help with great fondness and gratitude.
So many women try to breastfeed and fail. They fail despite trying so hard and seeking multiple sources of advice from well meaning people. Ami was critical to my being able to get through 5-weeks of pain and discomfort with breastfeeding my first child, and breastfeed two more. I could not have done it without Ami's support.