Waterbirth International

What Waterbirth International does

Waterbirth International is a privately held educational organization founded in 1988 by Barbara Harper in Boca Raton, Florida, providing waterbirth education, provider certification, hospital consulting, and parental advocacy across global markets. The organization operates at the intersection of maternal healthcare and continuing professional education, serving three primary customer segments: birth care professionals (midwives, nurses, doctors, obstetricians, doulas) seeking certification and clinical training; hospitals and birth centers requiring program implementation support, protocol development, and facility consulting; and expectant parents and families seeking evidence-based information about waterbirth options. Its core product is the Comprehensive Guide to Water Birth Provider Online Certification Course, a self-paced online curriculum delivered through a learning management system comprising 17 video lessons totaling more than 13 hours of instruction, accompanied by downloadable workbooks, scientific research compilations, practitioner guidelines, and monthly live Zoom Q&A sessions with the founder.

The business model combines a self-serve online certification product with tiered global pricing (4 economic tiers x 3 professional categories, ranging from $39 to $975 USD per certification), enterprise onsite training and consulting engagements with hospitals, and voluntary donations supporting the organization's non-profit mission. Distribution is hybrid: an online self-serve channel with PayPal payment processing for individual practitioners, direct enterprise sales for group and hospital engagements, and a searchable Global Practitioner Directory across 80+ countries that serves as both a marketing asset and a community anchor. The organization's technology stack is a conventional learning management system rather than a proprietary platform, with competitive differentiation rooted in 40 years of accumulated clinical content, the founder's personal reputation, and the breadth of the certified practitioner network rather than technical infrastructure.

Waterbirth International reports no external funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no M&A activity. Its growth strategy is organic, anchored by the 2025 digital product launch, the inaugural World Water Birth Week in June 2026 (co-organized with Waterbirth Canada), and ongoing expansion of the practitioner directory. The organization explicitly characterizes itself as 'a small but mighty organization with a global mission,' consistent with a 1-10 person bootstrapped operation rather than a venture-backed scale-up.

Name

Waterbirth International

Legal name

Waterbirth International, Inc.

Website

https://waterbirth.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Waterbirth International is a privately held educational organization founded in 1988 that provides waterbirth certification courses, hospital consulting, and parental advocacy resources to birth care professionals, healthcare facilities, and families across 80+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maternity Care Education and Training

NAICS

Educational Services (61), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Aquatics Programs (Pools, Swim Lessons, Lifeguarding) (EDALAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Infant & Toddler Sleep, Feeding & Diapering Support Programs (EDACAGAJ)

Keywords

• Water birth education
• Midwifery certification courses
• Maternity care training
• Hospital birth consulting
• Birth professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Boca Raton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Online Certification Courses: Tiered pricing model for provider certification based on country economic tier (Tier 1-4) and professional category (Medical, Provider, Student). Prices range from $39-$975 USD depending on tier and category.
2. Group/Onsite Training: In-person staff training for hospitals and birth centers, specialized consulting, and conference/workshop presentations by Barbara Harper.
3. Donations: Voluntary donations from supporters to fund the mission of training more birth professionals and expanding waterbirth education worldwide.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Waterbirth International delivers waterbirth education, training, and provider certification for birth care professionals, alongside onsite hospital consulting and a global practitioner directory for parents. The company sells a self-paced online certification course (Comprehensive Guide to Water Birth) with 17 video lessons and 13+ hours of instruction, plus customized in-person training programs for hospitals and birth centers. Supporting offerings include research resources, a worldwide practitioner directory, and global advocacy initiatives such as World Water Birth Week.

Product overview

Waterbirth International offers a comprehensive suite of waterbirth education and training products and services. The core offerings include the 'Comprehensive Guide to Water Birth' online certification course providing over 13 hours of video training with 17 lessons, practitioner resources, and monthly Zoom Q&A sessions with founder Barbara Harper, leading to Waterbirth International Practitioner Certification. The organization also provides Group Water Birth Training for hospitals and organizations including in-person staff training, facility consultation, and conference presentations. Additional offerings include a Global Practitioner Directory connecting families with certified waterbirth professionals worldwide, Water Birth Research Resources compiling studies and recommended readings, World Water Birth Week (a new global advocacy initiative launching June 2026), and a Waterbirth Story Sharing platform. The portfolio is complemented by a monthly newsletter 'WBI Impacts & Updates' and periodic photo contests celebrating waterbirth. All offerings center on the mission of advancing evidence-based, gentle waterbirth practices globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Comprehensive Guide to Water Birth - Provider Online Certification Course A fully online, self-paced certification course designed to equip birth care professionals — midwives, nurses, doctors, doulas, and birth advocates — with knowledge and skills to safely and skillfully support waterbirth. Includes over 13 hours of video training, 17 lessons, a downloadable workbook, scientific research materials, practitioner resources (guidelines, checklists, policy templates), and monthly Zoom Q&A sessions with Barbara Harper. Successful completion confers Waterbirth International Practitioner Certification.
• Group Water Birth Training In-person or live Zoom training sessions for hospitals, birth centers, and organizations. Includes staff training, hospital-wide consultation on waterbirth program implementation, protocol development, facility construction and remodeling consultation, and conference presentations delivered by Barbara Harper. Designed for facilities that want to integrate or expand waterbirth services across their maternity care teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced pain perception and increased relaxation during labor with warm water immersion
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Waterbirth CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Waterbirth Canada designated June 25 as World Waterbirth Day in honor of Barbara Harper's birthday and is leading special awareness efforts and shared messaging throughout World Waterbirth Week. They are inviting the international waterbirth community to share photos, memories, and reflections featuring Barbara Harper.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Lamaze International: Lamaze International is a globally recognized childbirth education and certification organization offering evidence-based training for birth professionals and parents. It is directly comparable to WBI in mission, audience, and non-profit educational model, though its scope is broader across general childbirth rather than waterbirth specifically.
• DONA International: DONA International is the leading doula training and certification organization, offering certification courses, continuing education, and a practitioner directory. It mirrors WBI's model of professional certification, online learning, and a searchable global member directory serving expectant parents.
• International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA): ICEA is a long-established professional organization certifying childbirth educators and birth professionals, with a comparable structure of certification programs, member directories, and continuing education for maternity practitioners.
• BirthWorks International: BirthWorks International provides childbirth educator certification and training programs with an emphasis on physiological, evidence-based birth. It overlaps with WBI in the niche of specialized, philosophy-driven birth professional certification.

Emerging players

• Spinning Babies: Spinning Babies offers specialized training for birth professionals focused on fetal positioning and physiological birth techniques. It shares WBI's focus on hands-on, evidence-based techniques for natural birth and serves a similar professional audience.
• HypnoBirthing: HypnoBirthing provides practitioner certification courses for a specific natural-birth methodology, marketed globally to birth professionals and parents. Its model of branded methodology certification, tiered training, and practitioner network parallels WBI's structure.
• Gold Learning: Gold Learning delivers online continuing education for maternal-child health professionals, including on-demand courses, webinars, and certification credits. It represents the broader online continuing-education category that WBI's online certification course now competes within.

Broad incumbents

• American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM): ACNM is a large professional association offering midwifery education, continuing education, and practice resources. As a broad incumbent in midwifery training, it competes for the same practitioner audience as WBI but with a wider scope beyond waterbirth.
• AWHONN: AWHONN is a major nursing and maternity professional organization providing continuing education and certifications to OB nurses and women's health practitioners. It serves the same hospital nursing customer base that WBI targets for waterbirth program training.

Others

• Wellness Mama: Wellness Mama is a large natural-parenting content platform reaching expectant parents with educational content, courses, and product reviews. While not a direct competitor, it influences the same parent audience WBI seeks to reach and shapes how parents discover waterbirth information.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@WaterBirthInternational
• Facebookfacebook.com/waterbirthint
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/waterbirth-international
• Instagraminstagram.com/waterbirthint
• Xx.com/waterbirth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Waterbirth International