Meet Mar De Carlo

Founder & CEO, International Parenting & Health Institute (IPHI)
Founder, Association of Professional Sleep Consultants (APSC)
Author | Educator | Entrepreneur | Holistic Sleep Education Pioneer

Mar De Carlo is an educator, entrepreneur, author, and professional coach with more than 27 years of experience in health, wellness, coaching, parenting, sleep, and professional education.

In 2009, she founded the International Parenting & Health Institute (IPHI), formerly known as the Internatioanl Maternity & Parenting Institute, a global professional education and certification organization that has trained and supported nearly 4,000 professionals in more than 72 countries worldwide.

That same year, Mar pioneered the world’s first Baby Planner Certification Program and authored The Baby Planner Profession, widely recognized as the foundational book introducing and defining the baby planner profession. Her work helped establish professional standards, educational pathways, and career opportunities within an emerging industry that continues to serve expectant and new families around the world.

In 2011, IPHI launched the Holistic Pregnancy & Child Sleep Consultant Certification program after identifying a significant gap within traditional sleep education. While many educational models focused primarily on sleep behaviors, Mar recognized that many sleep challenges could not be fully understood through sleep behaviors alone. Her experience and research also led her to recognize that sleep education should begin during pregnancy, long before sleep challenges emerge, allowing professionals to better understand the prenatal, developmental, environmental, and family factors that may influence sleep throughout infancy and childhood.

Later that year, she founded the Association of Professional Sleep Consultants (APSC), one of the first organizations dedicated to supporting the professional growth, advancement, ethical standards, and continuing education of sleep consultants worldwide.

Over the past two decades, Mar has helped expand the field of holistic sleep education through the development of innovative educational frameworks, certification programs, and professional training models. She is recognized for introducing a broader multidisciplinary perspective to sleep education, encouraging professionals to consider the influence of child development, family dynamics, emotional well-being, nutrition, prenatal and birth experiences, environmental factors, lifestyle habits, parent wellness, nervous system regulation, and overall health when evaluating sleep challenges.

Mar is the creator of the Holistic Science of Sleep Method™, an integrative framework that views sleep as part of a larger interconnected system involving physical, emotional, developmental, environmental, and lifestyle factors.

Throughout her career, Mar has developed and launched pioneering professional certification programs, including:

Holistic Pregnancy & Child Sleep Consultant Certification (2011)
Integrative Adult Sleep Coach Certification (2015)
Holistic Children & Teen Sleep Coach Certification
Holistic Pre- & Postnatal Nutrition Coach Certification
Baby Planner Certification Program

She is also the founder of the International Academy for Baby Planner Professionals and creator of the Physical Awakening® approach to embodiment, mindful movement, and personal transformation.

Mar is the author of several books focused on sleep, coaching, parenting, and professional development, including:

Awakening Through Sleep: A Transformational and Spiritual Guide
The Sleep Coach’s Language Manual
The Coach’s Language Manual
The Baby Planner Profession
When Parenting Hurts (forthcoming)

Her work has been guided by a lifelong commitment to bridging disciplines that have traditionally existed in isolation. Drawing from extensive education and training in coaching, health and wellness, psychology, parenting, nutrition, communication, business development, movement, and personal growth, she has developed educational programs that integrate science, compassion, critical thinking, and whole-person support.

Over the past 17+ years, IPHI’s programs have attracted a diverse range of professionals seeking to expand their knowledge of sleep, health, wellness, parenting, and family support. Students and graduates have included nurses, pediatricians, physicians, dentists, neurologists, sleep medicine professionals, orofacial myofunctional therapists, lactation consultants, doulas, childbirth educators, teachers, health and wellness coaches, nutrition professionals, personal trainers, parenting professionals, entrepreneurs, and individuals pursuing meaningful career transitions.

Today, IPHI graduates can be found in more than 72 countries worldwide and represent a broad spectrum of healthcare, coaching, education, wellness, and family-support professions. Many have gone on to establish private practices, launch businesses, educate families, develop professional training programs, and serve communities around the world.

Mar’s work and expertise have been featured in Good Morning America, U.S. News & World Report, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, HuffPost, Consumer Reports, Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine, and numerous national and international publications.

Her academic foundation includes a Bachelor of Science in Communication, along with more than 35 professional certifications and advanced trainings spanning naturopathy, health and wellness coaching, nutrition, stress management, birth psychology, parenting, neuroscience, emotional intelligence, meditation, breathwork, movement, fitness, yoga, Pilates, and personal development.

Above all, Mar is committed to helping professionals build meaningful careers, serve others with integrity, and create positive change for children, adults, families, and communities around the world. Through her leadership, teaching, mentorship, writing, and curriculum development, she continues to advance the fields of sleep, parenting, health, wellness, and professional education.