About Barbara Harper
Barbara Harper
Barbara Harper has always known her purpose. Since she was 13 years old, she has been on a mission to transform the way babies enter the world—making birth gentler, kinder, and more empowering for both parents and providers.
Today, Barbara is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in waterbirth and gentle birth practices. She has taught in 80 countries, trained more than 25,000 birth care professionals, and worked alongside midwives, nurses, and physicians to integrate waterbirth into maternity care worldwide. Her dedication has helped shift hospital policies, birth center protocols, and home birth practices—bringing safe, evidence-based waterbirth options to families across the globe.
Barbara’s passion for birth work began early, inspired by her grandmother, Estella Ethel Harper Lemunyon—a dedicated nurse and midwife for 47 years. Following in her grandmother’s footsteps, Barbara became a Registered Nurse in 1975, building a career that spanned obstetrics, pediatrics, cardiac and neurosurgical intensive care, and holistic nursing. In 1982, she joined the first board of the American Holistic Nurses Association, advocating for a more integrative approach to healthcare.
Yet, it was a deeply personal moment that ignited her lifelong commitment to birth. As a 13-year-old, Barbara longed to be present for the birth of one of her siblings, only to be told she wasn’t allowed.
That experience planted the seed of a question that has guided Barbara’s life’s work:
Why aren’t births more inclusive, gentle, and centered on the needs of both mother and baby?
After researching the benefits of water immersion for labor and birth, Barbara founded Waterbirth International in 1988. Her own experience using water during pregnancy and labor gave her firsthand insight into the power of this gentle practice. She became an unwavering advocate, working tirelessly to bring waterbirth into hospitals, birth centers, and home births.
Barbara has helped design and consult on state-of-the-art waterbirth suites in hospitals worldwide, developed hospital protocols, and created comprehensive training programs for medical professionals. She has worked closely with ministries of health, midwifery organizations, and medical institutions across six continents to bring evidence-based waterbirth practices to the forefront of maternity care.
Her impact is profound—not just in policy and practice, but in the thousands of families who have experienced a more peaceful, empowering birth thanks to her work.
Barbara has been invited as a visiting professor, midwifery expert consultant, and clinical advisor at medical schools, midwifery programs, and hospitals across the world, including dozens of universities and hospitals all over the United States, China, Mexico, Canada, UK, Israel, Egypt and recently Tanzania, just to name a few.
Her award-winning book, Gentle Birth Choices, remains a top-recommended resource for expectant parents and birth professionals. Available in nine languages, it outlines a model for maternity care that prioritizes health, preparation, and physiological birth. The accompanying DVD captures real-life waterbirth experiences and expert interviews with midwives and physicians.
She also contributed to Bringing Birth Home, a powerful collection of stories from mothers, midwives, and birth professionals, offering insight and wisdom for those preparing for birth.
Barbara’s commitment extends far beyond education. She has been a driving force in international birth advocacy, working with leading maternal health organizations, including the Association of Pre & Perinatal Psychology and Health, the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS), US Birth Practices Committee, International Council for the Humanization of Birth, Alliance for Transforming the Lives of Children, American Holistic Nurses Association, Gold Midwifery Conference Advisory Board, Human Rights in Childbirth Advisory Board and Birth Works International Advisory Board.
Barbara’s decades of work in waterbirth safety, education, and advocacy have earned her numerous awards, including the International Award from Lamaze International’s Board of Directors and Excellence in Education from Hospitale Militar, Mexico City.
Her expertise has been sought by major media outlets, including The New York Times, ABC Morning Show, L.A. Live, The Doctors (CBS), and countless podcasts, blogs, and publications worldwide.
More than four decades after beginning this journey, Barbara Harper remains as passionate as ever about making waterbirth accessible to all who seek it. She continues to teach, mentor, and advocate, ensuring that future generations of birth professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to support gentle, physiological birth.
Barbara Harper’s message is simple but powerful:
“Birth should be a safe, sacred, and empowering experience—
for every mother, every baby, everywhere.”
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Waterbirth International is dedicated to advancing the science, safety, and accessibility of water birth through global education, research, and advocacy. For over 40 years, we’ve empowered birth care providers and parents with the knowledge to support safe, gentle births.
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