Candelifera is a Roman Midwife-Goddess and Deity of Birth. Her name means "Candle-Bearer" or "She Who Brings Candles", and She was invoked at the beginning of childbirth to help women in labor. Like Lucina, Candelifera was believed to help the baby come out into the light of the world, and as candle-bearer, it was Her duty to provide enough illumination. She is mentioned by Tertullian, a former Pagan and lawyer of the 1st-2nd century CE who converted to Christianity in his mid-thirties, apparently becoming insufferable, if his writing is to judge, and who lists Her with a whole bunch of other minor Gods and Goddesses he considers frivolous in arguing his case for One God.

It was the tradition during birth to dedicate and light a candle to Candelifera; besides providing light by which to see, the fire of the candle may have functioned as protection for the mother and new infant from harmful spirits in this vulnerable time. Candles in Roman times, of wax or tallow, were used before oil lamps (Latin lucernae) were invented, and in later times were used only by the poor; that it is a candle, not a lamp, that is traditionally lit for Candelifera hints at an ancient origin. It was also the custom to leave certain types of oil lamps, called lucernae cubiculares, or "lamps of the bed-chamber", lit during the night in the cubiculae or bedrooms of the Roman house. Perhaps this practice was also believed to have a protective function (though to modern ears it sounds like a sure-fire way to burn the house down). Equally it may be that the lamps were lit because some cubiculae, which were generally very small rooms used solely for sleeping and sex, had no windows!

Candelifera may be an aspect of Juno as Childbirth Goddess who oversees the early stages of childbirth and the beginning of labor.