Studying midwifery? Here's my top five books

Student midwife Amber recommends her top five books for those starting the course.

Writing for Nursing and Midwifery Students by Julio Gimenez

This book was a godsend in my first year of training! I left education over five years previously and although I had done an Access course, writing my first few essays at university was so different.

This book gives you lots of hints and tips on a variety of writing styles, and I certainly wouldn’t have got through the year without it.

Introduction to Research for Midwives by Colin Rees

My second essay in the first year was a critical analysis of a piece of research. I had never looked into research that much and certainly had no idea how I was meant to critically analyse such an in-depth piece of research.

Although there were many lectures to assist us in understanding research, this book was so helpful to read through and help me get my head around the ins and outs of research in midwifery.

Mayes' Midwifery, by Sue Macdonald and Gail Johnson

It was recommended that we got either a Mayes or Myles book for midwifery and having looked through both, I decided this was the one for me. Both books have very similar information (certainly covered what I have needed it for) but are presented slightly differently.

I have found this book good for extra reading after a lecture to help understand certain topics in midwifery. It has some fantastic illustrations in as well, which is great for me as I am a visual learner.

PROMPT Course Manual

Emergencies…. Scary module in the second year! Without this book, I am not sure how I would have passed my exams.

Again, the lectures for this module were fantastic but sometimes I struggle with information overload so have always found it super useful to come home, re-write my notes (and make revision cards!) whilst looking through a good book to support the things I have learnt (or tried to) in a lecture.

This book has some interesting pictures in, along with algorithms, to really help those who have a visual approach to learning.

Health Promotion in Midwifery: Principles and Practice by Jan Bowden and Vicky Manning (Eds.)

Understanding the role of the midwife when it comes to public health is crucial in training, and can often be something that is forgotten about as it becomes routine and something midwives do day to day. It is so important, that you have to write an essay on it!

This book was fantastic and explained things in an easy-to-read manner. Certainly wouldn’t have been without it during my training.

These are just five of the many books I have used in my training so far and only two of them have been purchased. The books that are needed for the training can usually be found online or in the ARU Library so I cannot stress enough how unimportant it is to go out and buy your own books! I thought I would need to purchase them all (most of them are not cheap) but have found I can get them from the library or online!

Hopefully you will look out for these ones during your own training :)

If you’re interested in Midwifery, or any of our other undergraduate degree courses, find out more at an Open Day.