Courses
Barbara Harper teaches you everything you need to know about waterbirthCertifications - Workshops - Learning
Our self-paced online, live online, and onsite training courses offer birth care professionals deep knowledge and understanding of gentle birth options for practice. We also offer courses for parents to learn about gentle birth choices for practice, which includes warm water immersion
Events
Explore upcoming Waterbirth International live events and appearancesUpcoming Activities
Barbara Harper spreads her expert waterbirth knowledge globally to further the mission of providing gentle birth options
Professionals
Resources for doctors, nurses, midwives, doulas, students and birth care professionalsResources - Insights - Deep Knowledge
Parents
Find out why waterbirth is the best option for you and your babyResources For Parents
Every baby deserves a gentle birth
What is Gentle Birth?
Gentle Birth is an evidence-based model of maternity care, developed by practitioners worldwide, which incorporates current research on the psycho-neuro-physiology of the mother/baby pair and the consciousness of the fetus/newborn in its care practices.
Gentle Birth employs wellness promotion, integrative health care modalities, and responsiveness to the unique physiology unfolding in the mother and baby in all aspects of perinatal care, and follows the dictum, “First, Do No Harm” when considering any intervention.
Rooted in a strong sense of “pure service,” Gentle Birth practitioners place the physical, psychological, and emotional well being of the mother-infant pair, above all other system considerations and they uphold the right of childbearing women to exercise full autonomy in their care decisions.
Barbara Harper
RN, CLD, CCCE, Midwife
Barbara Harper is a leading voice for childbirth and maternity care reform, an author, educator, midwife and internationally recognized expert on the use of warm water immersion for labor and birth.
In 1988 she founded Waterbirth International after researching water immersion as a gentle birth option for mother and child. Two of her three children were at home in water in 1984 and 1986. Her continuous global research and personal experience as a birthing mother and midwife are her primary motivations to expand the use of water during labor and birth.
Barbara Harper regularly appears in the media, at conferences, and in publications.
Waterbirth Solutions provide birth pools, equipment and more for home, hospital or birth center.
Barbara Harper worked closely with Waterbirth Solutions director, Marla Althouse, to make sure the best quality birth pools, both inflatables and specially designed pools for installation, were available for parents at home, for hospital installation and for birth centers around the world.
Visit Waterbirth Solutions or call (877) 811-0238
Experience the miracle of a gentle birth
We can put you at ease and teach you all you need to know about waterbirth
If we are to seriously address the care needs of women who desire low intervention births, we must address the provision of safe water birth in hospitals and remove impediments to such services.
– Dr. Duncan Neilson, Perinatologist, Legacy Emanuel Hospital, Portland, Oregon
Our Latest Articles
Expert advice and waterbirth related events
Parto en Agua Protocolos – En Español
Proveer atención apropiada, efectiva y eficiente a los individuos que están en el proceso del parto, y que están en los varios estados de buena o mala salud,
Exploring Birth Movements in Water
Exploration if different positions for waterbirth. (from The Complete Book of Pregnancy and cChildbirth by Sheila Kitzinger)
ACOG – Immersion in Water During Labor and Delivery, Nov 2016
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) committee opinion on immersion in water during labor and delivery
Neonatal Outcomes of Waterbirth
In 2015, 9% of babies born in the UK were delivered underwater. Waterbirth is increasing in popularity, despite uncertainty regarding its safety for neonates. This systematic review and
NZCM Consensus Statement: The Use of Water for Labour and Birth
The New Zealand College of Midwives (Inc) supports warm water immersion for women during labour as a method of pain management. There is no evidence that remaining in
The Effect of Waterbirth on Neonatal Mortality and Morbidity
The effect of waterbirth on neonatal mortality and morbidity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The meta-analyses of 12 studies showed that for the majority of outcomes measured in
How can women reclaim their birthing power?
Just add water!
Become Waterbirth Certified
Waterbirth International provides the training, testing, and certifications for birth professionals through on-demand courses and onsite teaching.
Gentle Birth Choices book by Barbara Harper
Published in 9+ languages
