Billie Hunter was born in 1953 in South London. After training as a midwife in 1979, Billie worked in a rural GP unit in Wales, as an independent midwife in London and as a health visitor in the Outer Hebrides, covering remote islands. Since 1992, Billie has lived in Wales and has been engaged in midwifery teaching and research, gaining her PhD in 2002. She was appointed as Professor of Midwifery at Swansea University in 2006 and as Royal College of Midwives Professor of Midwifery at Cardiff University in 2011.