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The Last Midwife: What if childbirth was controlled by the state? London living a nightmare worse than Gilead - a dystopian thriller you won't be able to put down.
‘I’m going to snuff out the old witches – every last one of them!’
Childbirth in England is a state-controlled procedure. Midwives have been outlawed for decades. Only a handful remain, risking everything to help mothers give birth in secret, but now their very existence is under threat.
When young nurse Chiara arrives from Sicily, her dreams are quickly shattered by the horrifying truth behind the pristine walls of the Genesis Centre. Meanwhile Rava, the privileged wife of a government official, finds her perfect life unravelling when her pregnancy fails to meet her husband’s requirements.
Their worlds collide in a desperate fight for life, choice, and humanity against a system determined to control the future, one baby at a time.
Childbirth in England is a state-controlled procedure. Midwives have been outlawed for decades. Only a handful remain, risking everything to help mothers give birth in secret, but now their very existence is under threat.
When young nurse Chiara arrives from Sicily, her dreams are quickly shattered by the horrifying truth behind the pristine walls of the Genesis Centre. Meanwhile Rava, the privileged wife of a government official, finds her perfect life unravelling when her pregnancy fails to meet her husband’s requirements.
Their worlds collide in a desperate fight for life, choice, and humanity against a system determined to control the future, one baby at a time.
- GenresDystopia
470 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 25, 2025
90 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 6, 2025
Storyline: In this story, babies, referred to as Neonates, are only allowed to be born via a C-section. Midwifery is banned. Despite the ban, there are some who continue to practise the "dark art" of midwifery in this highly medicalised world. The storyline is compelling, with some unexpected twists to keep it interesting. The narrative arc builds up well, with a well-written rising action for the main characters. I found myself reading faster and faster as it progressed towards the climax. I could not put it down at the end- just as gripping as a Robert Harris novel!
World: A dystopian world with chilling parallels in current events. When is a baby a baby, and can it be disposed off before its status changes? In this world, the babies are only called babies when they are healthy and allowed to be taken home from the Genesis Centre. The sanitised, ultra-efficient city of London stands in stark contrast to the higgledy-piggledy unregistered slums on the outskirts of the city and the lush, natural surroundings of the last midwife's boat. I loved the descriptions of food in the book - Persian food, Italian food, herbs, cake recipes, tea. These details add richness and depth to what remains of humanity. I also love the description of women giving birth. The author writes these events from a deep, lived-through knowledge being a midwife herself!
Characters: A book is a great book with likeable protagonists! The novel features strong, likeable female leads with excellent character developmental arcs in Chiara and Rava. Chiara evolves from am innocent migrant nurse-in-training to someone who finds her true purpose in life. I also liked Rava; she transforms from a compliant wife to a fighter when she gets pregnant with a baby girl that her husband does not wish to keep. Both characters embody resilience, moral conviction, and the enduring strength of women in the face of systemic oppression.
Overall a very enjoyable, thought-provoking novel.
World: A dystopian world with chilling parallels in current events. When is a baby a baby, and can it be disposed off before its status changes? In this world, the babies are only called babies when they are healthy and allowed to be taken home from the Genesis Centre. The sanitised, ultra-efficient city of London stands in stark contrast to the higgledy-piggledy unregistered slums on the outskirts of the city and the lush, natural surroundings of the last midwife's boat. I loved the descriptions of food in the book - Persian food, Italian food, herbs, cake recipes, tea. These details add richness and depth to what remains of humanity. I also love the description of women giving birth. The author writes these events from a deep, lived-through knowledge being a midwife herself!
Characters: A book is a great book with likeable protagonists! The novel features strong, likeable female leads with excellent character developmental arcs in Chiara and Rava. Chiara evolves from am innocent migrant nurse-in-training to someone who finds her true purpose in life. I also liked Rava; she transforms from a compliant wife to a fighter when she gets pregnant with a baby girl that her husband does not wish to keep. Both characters embody resilience, moral conviction, and the enduring strength of women in the face of systemic oppression.
Overall a very enjoyable, thought-provoking novel.
December 29, 2025
Brilliant! I couldn’t put it down, reading late in to the night.
A clever story of love & survival with plenty of twists, turns & heart in the mouth moments.
A clever story of love & survival with plenty of twists, turns & heart in the mouth moments.
October 21, 2025
Feminist dystopian thrillers have been hitting eerily close to reality lately, and The Last Midwife brings that discomfort home. Set in a chillingly plausible time, it echoes real-world horrors: from forced sterilizations to coerced abortions driven by state's policy. It's London living a nightmare worse than Gilead.
Surveillance, fear, and secrecy add to the novel’s claustrophobic tone. The epigraph and recurring themes of heavily monitored reproduction deepen the unease, but what stands out most is how the novel centers midwifery. It’s reimagined here through Liz’s magical and intuitive practice—adding warmth to the birthing experience in sharp contrast to the "safe", clinical horrors of "modern healthcare" in the story.
The narrative structure is gripping, with backstories placed perfectly to explain character motivations without slowing the pace. The attention to detail, especially in settings like Rosie Lee and Genesis Centre, pulls you further into the action.
It leaves me with a lasting thought: when medical science becomes a tool of authoritarian regimes, it spirals into unimaginable forms of violence. A gripping and chilling read. Perfect for fans of feminist dystopias and thrillers. Highly relatable for women around the world.
Surveillance, fear, and secrecy add to the novel’s claustrophobic tone. The epigraph and recurring themes of heavily monitored reproduction deepen the unease, but what stands out most is how the novel centers midwifery. It’s reimagined here through Liz’s magical and intuitive practice—adding warmth to the birthing experience in sharp contrast to the "safe", clinical horrors of "modern healthcare" in the story.
The narrative structure is gripping, with backstories placed perfectly to explain character motivations without slowing the pace. The attention to detail, especially in settings like Rosie Lee and Genesis Centre, pulls you further into the action.
It leaves me with a lasting thought: when medical science becomes a tool of authoritarian regimes, it spirals into unimaginable forms of violence. A gripping and chilling read. Perfect for fans of feminist dystopias and thrillers. Highly relatable for women around the world.
November 21, 2025
A compelling read from the opening paragraph to the very last sentence and one I found very hard to put down. There was a chilling feeling of reality and an authenticity in the detailed accounts of the lives of women who, for the benefit of society and to maintain population control, are only permitted, with strict conditions including paternal permission and support, to have one child. All babies, being born by C section and if not perfect being eutanased at birth. The mothers, referred to as incubators, are then sterilised, or sealed to prevent them from incubating again, are drugged following delivery and are forbidden to breastfeed. Meanwhile, outside of the sterile birthing unit, the Genesis centre, and hidden in an underground world, midwives are delivering babies to women who don't have a licence including those having multiple births. One such midwife is one of the last not to have been hunted down by the authorities.
The characters in the book, whose lives intertwine in an unexpected way, are so vividly portrayed. The attention to detail, particularly medical and cultural make this book stand out as one that has a chilling ring of reality that is haunting.
At the end of the book, the pieces of this cleverly woven tale fit together and you will feel the compulsion to read it again with the hindsight of knowing how it ends.
As a woman, mother and a nurse, his book was strikingingly impressive.
The characters in the book, whose lives intertwine in an unexpected way, are so vividly portrayed. The attention to detail, particularly medical and cultural make this book stand out as one that has a chilling ring of reality that is haunting.
At the end of the book, the pieces of this cleverly woven tale fit together and you will feel the compulsion to read it again with the hindsight of knowing how it ends.
As a woman, mother and a nurse, his book was strikingingly impressive.
December 10, 2025
As someone who is very passionate about birth this book ticked so many boxes for me. Set in a dystopian London where physiological birth and midwifery is now illegal and all mothers “incubators” are subjected to c-sections and all of these other regulations on women’s bodies. Following Chiara and her journey as a nurse turned traditional midwife leads to unexpected turns and a fight to the end for what is right.
It gives hand maids tale vibes and some of the storylines are truly harrowing. I think the concept of neonatal 2 will always make me shudder. But also the joy of all the births on the Rosie Lee, it makes me tear up and brings me back to my own birth experience. Liz is such a character and I genuinely feel like we all know a “Liz” in midwifery!
But honestly, it’s not that far fetched to imagine some of this ideas could be our reality with the current maternity system being what it is and with increasing c-section rates!
Loved it and will recommend to all my other birth enthusiasts.
It gives hand maids tale vibes and some of the storylines are truly harrowing. I think the concept of neonatal 2 will always make me shudder. But also the joy of all the births on the Rosie Lee, it makes me tear up and brings me back to my own birth experience. Liz is such a character and I genuinely feel like we all know a “Liz” in midwifery!
But honestly, it’s not that far fetched to imagine some of this ideas could be our reality with the current maternity system being what it is and with increasing c-section rates!
Loved it and will recommend to all my other birth enthusiasts.
November 1, 2025
How far would you go to escape a forced abortion or sterilsation? What would you do if your 'unlicensed' baby was taken by the state? What would you risk to help a woman facing these desperate circumstances?
The Last Midwife asks these questions in a dystopian world where pregnancy is policed and a birth can be a crime. It is a story about oppression and state control of motherhood but it is also a story of feminist resistance.
The Last Midwife features beautiful depictions of midwifery agasint the odds and I really felt like I was on the Rosie Lee narrow boat with the birthing women. Fast paced but thoughtful, this book and its characters have stayed with me long since the final page.
The Last Midwife asks these questions in a dystopian world where pregnancy is policed and a birth can be a crime. It is a story about oppression and state control of motherhood but it is also a story of feminist resistance.
The Last Midwife features beautiful depictions of midwifery agasint the odds and I really felt like I was on the Rosie Lee narrow boat with the birthing women. Fast paced but thoughtful, this book and its characters have stayed with me long since the final page.
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December 31, 2025It was an interesting story, and a good book. However, I will not be reading any more books with cats in them unless I know for a fact that nothing happens to said cats. So I'm leaving this content warning here for everyone else: very gruesome description of the body of a tortured and murdered cat.
All other potentially triggering content (child death and abuse, eugenics, abuse, racism, misogyny, etc.) is as one would expected in a dystopian book, which is why I don't feel the need to go into detail.
The book was very moving and thoughtful, as well as interesting.
All other potentially triggering content (child death and abuse, eugenics, abuse, racism, misogyny, etc.) is as one would expected in a dystopian book, which is why I don't feel the need to go into detail.
The book was very moving and thoughtful, as well as interesting.
December 3, 2025
A chilling book that could come a brutal reality in this scary world we are living in.
Plenty of twists to keep the reader hooked.
Only problem is in the kindle edition there is a fair few typos, but this doesn’t take away from the authors brilliant style of writing.
Plenty of twists to keep the reader hooked.
Only problem is in the kindle edition there is a fair few typos, but this doesn’t take away from the authors brilliant style of writing.
December 30, 2025
Fantastic read
WoW....what a wonderful story and it makes you think this is the way the world is actually heading. I hope not and if it does, it won't be in my lifetime...........or will it. Read this brilliant book and decide what you think.
WoW....what a wonderful story and it makes you think this is the way the world is actually heading. I hope not and if it does, it won't be in my lifetime...........or will it. Read this brilliant book and decide what you think.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews