She has also reduced the amount of injuries for inner-city children through her research and efforts to educate the public on prevention of accidents.
Her mother returned to school and obtained a degree in Psychology in 1954 after her father's death in order to become a guidance counselor and assistant professor and support Barlow and her sister.
[1] While completing her residency in the Bronx, Barlow noticed the severe lack of quality pediatric care in the area.
She was one of the key figures in a New York City ordinance that required landlords to install window guards and participated in the educational campaign "Children Can't Fly," which warned parents about the risk of children falling from high-rise building windows.
[2] Injuries due to children falling out of windows in the Washington Heights neighborhood decreased by 96 percent by 1981.
[1] Barlow also founded "Injury Free Coalition for Kids," through which she has been able to ensure that similar programs are operating in cities across the nation, such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia.
Her last position was a professor in epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York.