Marie Louise's book, 'The Modern Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond', is a superb choice for any parent who wants to read up on relevant birthing topics and build their self-confidence. It simplifies complex topics around pregnancy, helping expecting mums build a positive mindset and make the birthing experience less scary. Marie is a senior midwife with experience as a PTLLS adult educator and hypnobirthing teacher, and has travelled the world to learn about midwifery, so her teachings come well-practised.
AmazonThis book is very informative, with a down-to-earth writing style that's incredibly approachable and really helps to simplify complicated topics. It's the perfect way to soothe your anxieties and help you worry less about the process of labour, making you feel ready to tackle everything that's yet to come.
Pros
- Comforting realism is reassuring in its honesty
- Breaks things down in a really helpful way
- Brilliant summaries make referring back to the book way easier!
Cons
- Not so many pictures or diagrams for visual learners
- Sheer volume of information on offer could feel overwhelming for some!
Awards
The Modern Midwifes Guide to Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond won Gold for Best Pregnancy Product in the Mother&Baby Awards 2025. It's such a big help for any nervous mums out there - the content is really useful and is explained in a realistic, reassuring way. You can keep going back to it whenever you need to reference something - it really makes it feel like you have someone in your corner, which is super important in the early stages of your baby's life! If you're not convinced, keep on reading to find out what our Mother & Baby testers thought of this book!
Testing
Our testers had nothing but praise for the tone of the book. "Marie Louise has a non-judgemental way of writing, something that I found is rare in pregnancy books," said one pleased mother, telling us that "it felt like she was writing for the mum and her well-being which was exactly what I needed." Another told us that "even when explaining quite confusing elements, Marie always finds a way to make it feel like you’re having a friendly chat with someone rather than reading a book."
This casual tone doesn't mean that the organisation suffers though - one mum told us that "the book is beautifully designed and well laid out so it’s very easy to jump to the specific bits you want to read about. I love how personal it all is at every moment." This great planning means you can easily jump in and out of the book as you need, which is amazing for busy mums!
"The book was well structured and easy to read with lots of detail. It provided me with necessary information in relation to labour and birth, allowing me to feel more prepared," said a parent who got the reassurance they needed from the book. It's brilliant at explaining the tricky to understand bits of pregnancy - one mum told us that "it has everything regarding pregnancy you could wish for... It’s a very comforting book because it is real and raw."
Even for those who have read other books relating to pregnancy and motherhood, there's still plenty of good stuff in here. One pleased mum told us, "I read the book fairly quickly as I found it enjoyable! It didn’t have too many repeated facts like you find in other pregnancy info books, instead covering many different topics... It isn’t long enough to get tedious either, which I liked."
"There were so many handy tips and I loved the little summaries throughout the book, this made it much easier to refer back to," one mother told us, continuing to report that "the preparing for birth part was particularly useful, as it focused on all aspects, from the practical to the emotional."
Final verdict
Overall, it's clear that the book really helped our testers feel prepared for their motherhood journey, with one mum telling us that "Receiving and reading this book was the lifeline I didn’t know I needed and I’m so grateful I’ve read it! I feel like this book really explains everything and reassures the reader at every possible stage which is lovely". We think one tester put it best - she told us that "as a first-time mum, you honestly do not know where to start. This book is the answer. It made me feel confident and I felt like I had a 24-hour midwife at my side."
Emily Dale is a contributing writer for Mother&Baby, passionate about finding the best deals for families and collecting real parent reviews to explore the highest quality products for the home. She has also contributed as a Content Optimisation Executive to a number of other Bauer brands, including Yours and What's The Best.