Nicky Leap was born in 1948 and grew up in the West Country, England. She became a National Childbirth Trust (NCT) teacher in the 1970s and was a youth and community worker in London before training to be a midwife. For more than 30 years Nicky has worked in a variety of roles in midwifery practice, education and research. She is an Adjunct Professor of Midwifery at the University of Technology, Sydney and Visiting Professor of Midwifery at Kings College London. Nicky divides her time between living in Bristol (UK) and Sydney (Australia).