Barbara Harper

www.waterbirth.org

IG @thebarbaraharper

IG @waterbirthint

IG @blissbornbirth

Twitter: waterbirth

Facebook: facebook.com/waterbirth

Barbara Harper is passionate about pregnancy and birth and is recognized as a skilled teacher and international expert on waterbirth and gentle birth. Her personal mission has always been to change the way we welcome babies into the world. Her beloved maternal grandmother was a nurse and midwife in rural Ohio for almost 50 years. Her own career in nursing began as an obstetric nurse in the 70s. She did not last long there and was asked to leave because she just could not follow the rules. Neurosurgical and cardiac intensive care units were better places for her skills. She became a board member of the American Holistic Nurses Association in 1983, while working as a pediatric nurse exploring alternative healing modalities and teaching yoga. After two home waterbirths in 1984 and 1986, she started a midwifery education program and apprenticeship.

During her long career, Barbara has also worked as a homebirth midwife, childbirth educator, midwifery instructor, doula trainer and a Blissborn Birth Hypnosis instructor. Barbara founded Waterbirth International in 1988, to provide couples and professionals with research-based information and training, believing that the normalcy of birth can increase by making water immersion and available option for all women. She has authored dozens of professional articles and been interviewed on hundreds of radio and TV shows, podcasts, in newspapers and magazines all over the globe. Her best-selling 2005 book and DVD, “Gentle Birth Choices,” has inspired thousands of parents and professionals alike and has been translated into 9 languages, including the 2016 publication in Mandarin Chinese. Her unique professional workshops, personal growth seminars, waterbirth and hypnosis professional trainings have been hosted within hospitals, nursing schools, midwifery and medical schools and community groups worldwide in over 70 countries.

She was ahead of the curve when she began teaching her Waterbirth Certification Workshops and Blissborn Hypnosis trainings online in 2016. She is asked to return for training in hospitals yearly in many countries including China, Argentina, UAE, Israel, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Vietnam, and locations all over the US.

She lives in Boca Raton, Florida, where she a community volunteer and midwifery, doula, and Blissborn student mentor.