Ream's Midwifery resource recommendations

Midwifery student Ream shares her reading and following recommendations for new students.

My name is Ream and I’m in my final year studying Midwifery. I remember when first starting off the course, I was faced with confusion about what books were the best to get or most worth reading.

To make this easier for you, I have noted a few resources for people who will be, or have just started studying Midwifery. I hope these will help you get a head start and also inspire you.

1. Studying for Your Midwifery Degree by Siobhan Scarlan and Hilary Walker (2015)

This book helps student midwives make the most of their time studying and clearly explains the core learning skills you need such as academic writing, placement learning, and much more. This book is great to have when working on your essays. I have borrowed this from ARU Library.

2. Skills for Midwifery Practice by Ruth Johnson and Wendy Taylor (2016)

This book is very good as it teaches you the correct and recommended way of facilitating your skills. These range anywhere from abdominal palpations to drug administration, intrapartum skills, maternal and neonatal vital signs, and many more. These are the basics of what you will need in your midwifery course. I have borrowed this from ARU Library.

PS: I think there is an updated version of this book (2022).

3. Mayes’ Midwifery by Sue Macdonald (2017)

This is a book that explores the anatomy and physiology of women and birth, so it covers your basics. It also includes medical problems in pregnancy, which is why it is a great book to have, especially when starting your emergency module in your second year. This is a book advised from most of your lectures. I have borrowed this from ARU Library.

4. Hard Pushed – A Midwife’s Story by Leah Hazard (2019)

This is a fun book to read, written by a midwife. She focuses on the human stories of women who are depending on her and gives an accurate insight into what it’s like working in a modern healthcare system. I would recommend giving it a read. I bought this from The Works, and it can also be found online (although a bit pricier).

5. Instagram accounts

This last one is not a book but a few Instagram accounts I have found super useful throughout my three years that I would highly recommend following:

• Student_midwife_studygram, account by a midwife posting education for student midwives with great labelled animations.
• Thefitmidwife, account by a midwife in Dubai, who asks a question then explains it in simple terms for women, student midwives and anyone else to read and understand.
• ARUmidsoc22, account of the Midwifery Society at ARU Chelmsford talking about upcoming events, freshers and many more at ARU.
• Badassmotherbirther, account by a birth worker in the US with content and amazing videos of different women birthing in different ways. It really is a beautiful account.
• Midwifemarley, account by award winning, speaker, author and mum who posts great labelled animations.

Ream studies Midwifery at ARU. Find out more about Midwifery, and other degree courses, at one of our Open Days.