The Positive Birth Book: The Bestselling Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and the Early Weeks

by Milli Hill

Challenging negativity and fear of childbirth, and brimming with everything you need to know about labour, birth and the early weeks of parenting, The Positive Birth Book is the must-have guide for pregnant women. A widely acclaimed bestseller since it was first published, it has empowered hundreds of thousands of women worldwide to make informed, positive choices about their births.
Fully revised and updated, this new edition will help you work out what kind of birth you really want, and learn how to maximise your chances of getting it. The book’s trademark Visual Birth Plan icons can be downloaded for free to help you create a birth plan for every eventuality.
Written in Milli Hill’s trademark warm and witty style, discover vital information on everything from the truth about pain and what giving birth actually feels like, to your choices and rights in the birth room; from optimal cord clamping, to postnatal mental health; from the inside track on breastfeeding, to positive, gentle caesarean.
Whether you plan to have your baby in hospital, in a birth centre, at home or by elective caesarean, this essential, non-judgemental guide shows you how to raise your expectations and have the best possible birth experience.
New for this edition:
- How to plan for a positive birth in difficult times
- Reworked chapter on choosing where to have your baby
What you need to know about exercise in pregnancy from Charlie Launder, author of Bumps and Burpees
- Top tips for breastfeeding from Amy Brown, author of The Positive Breastfeeding Book
- New section on your rights in pregnancy and birth by Bashi Hazard of the Human Rights in Childbirth International Lawyers Network
- Essential information about your pelvic floor, core and postnatal incontinence by Nikki Bergen, creator of the Belle Method, and Luce Brett, author of PMSL

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Health, Family, Self Help, Adult, Childrens

328 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2017

About the author

Milli Hill is a journalist, author and the founder of the Positive Birth Movement. Her first book, The Positive Birth Book, was published in March 2017 to wide acclaim, immediately becoming an Amazon bestseller and remaining one of the most popular books for pregnant women ever since. In August 2020 her second book, Give Birth Like a Feminist, was published by Harper Collins and has since been widely featured in the UK media including the BBC. The book seeks to spark debate about childbirth as an overlooked feminist issue, and urges women to reclaim their bodily autonomy in birth in line with the #metoo movement. In 2021 her book My Period, a puberty guide for preteen girls was published by Wren and Rook (Hachette). In 2025 her 4th book Ultra Processed Women was published by Harper Collins. Milli speaks regularly at international events and conferences and has appeared on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 2, BBC 5 Live and talkradio. She has written extensively for the Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, ipaper and more about issues connected to motherhood, birth, and women's rights and autonomy. She now writes a bestselling substack WHAT ABOUT WOMEN, and is launching another substack, Unprocess, about how diet is key to health. Milli lives in rural Somerset with her partner and three children. Her 5th non fiction will be published in 2026.

Reviews

[Emily Forster · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found that for a book that was supposed to be positive about all types of birth it was very negative about the kind I am likely to have.
If you have a high risk pregnancy she encourages you to push for a home birth with an independent midwife but you are expected to be traumatised by any intervention and the focus is on how to refuse it.
The section on caesarean was very negative and assumed that you would feel like a failure. The only reason anyone feels like a failure after having a caesarean is because of attitudes like this book. Lots of people choose to have an elective caesarean.
She is very dismissive about people who experience pain in labour. She suggests that even in the worst labour no one is in pain all the time. Just because she had 3 relatively easy births doesn't mean that everyone can.

[Chiara D'Agosto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, I read a book about pregnancy and birth.
It was a Christmas gift from a friend, and I started reading it thinking I wasn't the kind of person for this kind of things, tbh. But actually I quite enjoyed the act of laying down in bed and relaxing with this little book. Until it irritated the shit out of me.

I found the first sections interesting and informative: birth rights, birth plans, the amazing idea of the visual birth plan (which I've now used!), and I appreciated she included birth plans and experieces for different kind of people and differend kind of births. But after that, when it actually came to talk in depth about the birth choices she was describing before... well.

The author wants you to have an unmedicated home birth. If you decide to have an epidural (for which she quotes multiple times the risk of permanent back damage, which is NOT TRUE), or pethidine, or even simple gas and air, you should be feeling like a failure. If you DECIDE to give birth in hospital, you are basically an idiot who's asking for forceps, which of course you should always refuse, no matter the reason why your obstetrician is actually advising you this way. If you go overdue, drink castor oil instead of being medically induced, or wait for nature to do its course, and it doesn't matter that castor oil a) doesn't work b) will only give you the runs c) it can be dangerous an d) waiting for nature to do its course can be a serious risk. If you then have a c-section, the gates of hell should open. She only considers the idea of a c-section as something someone can't choose in the freedom of their own adult mind. It is only considered as a second best option when nothing else can be done, and her whole chapter about it just naturally assumes this is going to be your mindset about it and that you are going to feel like a failure because you didn't get to be the "birth goddess" you were planning to.

Alright, lady.

At that point, I wanted to throw this thing out of the window. I will never understand this new tendency to disregard modern medicin, which has saved countless babies' and birthing people's lives. Everything nowadays is about home births, unmedicated, and possibly "hands off", with no intervention of medical personell. I understand this might work for some. It worked for Milli Hill clearly. But there's a reason why parental and neonatal mortality are at a lowest this day and age. And ignoring it for the sake of "feeling like a goddess" is stupid. Plus, instilling in birthing people the idea that pain relief is something superfluous because "labour shouldn't hurt" is honestly fucking infuriating.
And that's it.

[Kitty G Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up on a recommendation from a friend as she recently had a baby and read this as a primer. She swears by it and so it seemed a good start for me with pregnancy reading in general.
So, I'm glad I tried it, and although I think it's a little bit overly enthusiastic about home birth as the ideal, generally it's packed with useful information. I certainly think the ideas about advocating for yourself and being in the know about what's going on around you are vital and really good for women to understand. It also covers many of your rights and many scenarios from all sorts of women across the UK, both mothers and medical professionals. I certainly think it was enlightening on some topics I hadn't really thought of, and I think it's a well-narrated audiobook if you like to consume media that way.
Overall, a positive start to positive pregnancy reading, with a lot to look back on and learn from. I'm definitely interested to learn more from some other books to compare, but I think as a general positive start point this is a good one and I think it covers all sorts from pregnancy to beyond birth which is great. It's also pretty realistic on feelings and emotions and events, and I appreciated the normalising of some of the more "scary" bits of birth.
4*s

[Leanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're not having a perfect home birth I'd pass on this one.

I hated this book before I gave my birth, and I hate it even more after. I apologise if this turns into more of a rant that a review.

We started off on the wrong food when Ms Hill said that she would rather take castor oil than be induced. Uhm, no! Castor oil is dangerous and you're writing a book giving out advice to confused, vulnerable women!

Just so happened that I had to be induced as well because my baby decided it was to comfy inside me and wouldn't come out. To Milli Hill this is the worst thing that could ever happen. Oh no! Intervention! I should have waited and let baby come on its own! (Even though my baby was 9lbs when born, I don't even want to think about the possible weight if I'd have waited!) There are so many reasons for being induced when your overdue but Milli Hill says it's best to let nature takes it course.

She made me really anxious about the other possible interventions I'd need. That I'd probably have to have a cesararian, and not be able to get through without strong pain relief. Well guess what! I didn't have a cesararian and I managed on gas and air so it shows what Ms Hill knows.

This just was not the book for me. Too preachy, too hippy, and too scare-mongering.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really needed to read this book. It is a powerful and reassuring read for when the most of your knowledge of pregnancy and childbirth comes from tv-shows, horror stories of mothers with negative experiences or in my case: hospitals. It shows you how natural and beautiful it is to be able to make a whole new person from scratch! And then give birth to it. Pregnancy is not a diagnosis, and most of the time, nature knows what to do. This book gives me the self-assurance to give birth at home with as little medical 'help' as possible .

The only downside to this book, in my opinion, is that it creates a kind of atmosphere where it seems like it is you and your baby against doctors. There is some nuance and it is explained, but the medical viewing point and how doctors think is a little overlooked. But still, I think this book is necessary and would recommend it to every woman who's a little scared of giving birth.

[Lizzi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read about half of this book, skim-read a bit, and then just gave up entirely. The author has only had home births and while it's fair enough that this was best for her, she pushes this on the reader to the point of being really judgey about anyone wanting to give birth in a hospital or even a midwife-led unit. Her tone is also quite fake-jolly while actually being quite alarmist, and overall there is far too much of her own opinion in this book and not enough balanced information. The only really good thing is the little diagrams/illustrations used in the sample birth plans. I'm glad that I had already read other books about pregnancy and birth as I really wouldn't recommend this as your only reading on the topic. There are a lot of other books out there that are more balanced and actually positive, rather than just this one woman and her opinions. I wrote a bit about this book on my blog here: https://theselittlewords.com/2019/07/...

[Tati · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author is extremely biased towards her personal opinion of what a birth should be like (home birth with no interventions). She says things like “if you are planning a hospital birth and are not a high risk pregnancy, I urge you to reconsider”, right after praising herself for not being biased. Another hint is that she dedicates 14 pages to the chapter “positive home birth”, while the “positive hospital birth” and “positive birth center birth” ones only deserved 4 pages each. Finally, when she said the guidance from NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in the UK was not to be trusted because “it was not based on evidence but on a few Doctors opinions”, I knew it was time to put the book aside.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and unbiased. It gives clear, non-judgmental information about all facets of pregnancy and birth. Must read for everyone looking to take charge of their births and “plan” for every scenario.

[Gemma · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a book that claims to be positive about birth, it feels like the author is really only positive about giving birth in a certain way, i.e. the births that take place at home and in water with no medication. The other birth options are presented with multiple negative caveats and are often treated quite dismissively. For instance, she dedicates 16 pages to giving birth at home with ‘inspirational’ stories from women who have done that; in contrast, she writes just 4 pages, no stories on giving birth in a hospital and prefaces those pages with the sentence ‘You are much more likely to have a fulfilling and normal birth in either an MLU, or at home’, i.e. home is good, hospital is bad.

While the author’s intent seems to be to empower women to make choices, she is quite distrusting of the medical profession and her approach is more likely to create fear among pregnant women of doctors rather than encourage them to trust in their knowledge and expertise when working with them. She talks often of how women traditionally gave birth at home without doctors intervening and the nostalgia with which she talks about the past suggests she thinks giving birth was ‘better’ then because it was more ‘natural’. She seems to conveniently forget that before modern medicine, women and children were more likely to die in childbirth than today in large part because medical care including facilities and research were not as good then as they are today.

I was really disappointed with this book and it’s lack of positivity on all kinds of birth. If you’re someone who is considering all their options and would like information on birth delivered in a way that is more factual with fewer interjections of opinions, you’d be better reading off something else that will make you feel less judged.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was heartwarming and helpful in putting my mind at ease for my upcoming birth experience this month. It offered a much more practical and positive approach to it all. I would highly recommend anyone who is pregnant to read it, it was highly recommended by a friend of mine!

[Rachel Sedlacek · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a writer who declares: “no woman should be judged for her choices”, there was a lot of unnecessary judgment in this book. Also, I found it laughable that the chapter on “A Positive Hospital Birth” was essentially a long paragraph on why you *shouldn’t* give birth at a hospital unless under extreme circumstances, and then a halfhearted second paragraph basically saying “but if you have to, just try to make it feel like a home birth if you can.”

I did find the sections on oxytocin and the stages of labor to be interesting, but that’s about it. I wouldn’t recommend this book to a friend unless she was already gung-ho about a home birth (which I personally am not), bc she’d probably spend most of her time reading it feeling guilty about the informed decisions she’s already made and previously felt good about.

[Sharon Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has completely changed how I look at birth and removed a lot of fear and uncertainty around labour.

I have bought this book for a couple of pregnant friends who have also found it invaluable.

Essential reading for mums to be and birth partners

[Marije · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings....ene kant fijn om meer over de 'feiten' te lezen en hoe je zelf zoveel mogelijk regie kan ervaren. Het geeft stof tot nadenken. Aan de andere kant vond ik het erg sturend geschreven; alsof de medische kant 'minder goed' zou zijn en als je daarvoor kiest (als je al een keuze zou hebben), je een slechtere keuze voor jezelf of je baby maakt. En de betere keuze een thuisbevalling is zonder medisch ingrijpen of bemoeienis van verloskundigen of artsen. In dit boek mis ik het vertrouwen in hulpverleners en dankbaarheid voor de medische mogelijkheden die we hebben (zouden er anders niet heel veel kraamvrouwen en babys overlijden?).

[Natalie Print · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars because it helped me to feel more prepared for giving birth, helped me to think through different options and helped me to write a birth-plan! Some of it felt a bit “out there”, but it was still very helpful and I’ve already started recommending it to other first time Mums.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was given to me by my sister in law and it was so insightful and helpful on all aspects of pregnancy and birth, including writing a birth plan and knowing your rights. Not had the baby yet but I feel a lot more empowered having read this book!

[Samidha; समिधा]

DNF

[Ilaria Fanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative book but WAAAY too biased towards a home birth. This aspect put me off a bit (even though I knew it would be the case), however there is a lot of helpful information in there, so still worth a read

[Diletta · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Loved this book in preparation of birth and would have given a higher score but got quite frustrated that the author CLEARLY wants you to go for a home birth. She does talk about positive c-section births and other more ‘conventional’ way of birthing babies, but it seems to always come back to the conclusion that home birth is the best option (you’ll have lower labour, no tears, feel secure, blah blah). I was a bit disappointed by this as I can see the benefits of home births but I’ve also heard extremely negative experiences during home births that could have easily be prevented in hospitals and this is not covered in the book at all. For instance lots of hospital in London have now stopped offering home births as ambulances are taking too much time to reach houses due to the covid emergency, and this at least in part reflects some of the risks of birthing at home. I would have expected a less biased account of this birth approach that’s it. Other than that the book was very informative.

[Jehane Penfold-Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was petrified of birth and wanted a book that was more likely to be positive about it. Despite the title, this wasn't it for me! I'm sure if you are likely to have a "normal", "natural" birth (hate using those words but you'll know what I mean more easily!) then it would be great, but I went in to reading this knowing I would have complications and likely be induced/have C-section (both of which ended up happening). The book was very negative about the type of birth I was likely to have and to be honest it made me feel worse about the upcoming birth. Thankfully I went on a hypnobirthing course where the teacher could tailor the content to me and that helped me a lot.

[Rachael Shipard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Learnt a few interesting things about labour/birth/the importance of birth plans and the pressures that healthcare workers can put on mothers as well as the choices that can be made, but it seemed to be a very feminist approach that felt unpleasant at times to get through. Too many mentions of being a ‘primal goddess’ or a ‘shero’ in labour or setting up a birth altar and having a mother blessing with a 10cm dilation cake (?) but i had to keep reminding myself that this book is for all women of diverse backgrounds and expectations, and having a baby today is considered a privilege since infertility rates are on the rise.

I also resorted to the audio book for some of it, because the paper formatting became very frustrating - unjustified paragraphing and random info boxes or testimonies plonked in the middle of dot-point lists made me unnecessarily lose focus while i was trying my best to be a positive birthing person 😬 i wonder what kind of terminology or subject matter a new edition of this book would include….

[Beth Sandland (Beth’s Book Club) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this book gave me lots of clear guidance, raised things I hadn’t heard of before and spells out all the options clearly. I think it’s biggest value is that I now know how to write both a visual and written birth plan and the examples are plentiful and helpful! The author has a bias towards minimal intervention but this suited me, and I didn’t find her pushy or judgemental. Will be asking my husband to read it too ahead of the birth! Best dipped in and out of as there’s a lot of info to absorb...Broken into easy chapters so will revisit parts.

[Elke de Echte · Rating 3 out of 5]

What more to cultivate than positivity when embodying the miracle of life? The Positive Birth Book shows how to have the best possible birth (plan), no matter what scenario life holds in place and no matter what voices one is surrounded with. Once again reaffirming the not to be underestimated mind-body connection, the well founded you-can-do-it message is all the more welcome in a moment in life when such self-empowerment is quintessential. It presents a practical, reassuring, down-to-earth way to prepare a wonderful birth… to be excited about!

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit one-sided for my liking. Much preferred books like 'your no guilt pregnancy plan' and 'expecting better' for losing the narrative around natural, home birth = good, hospital birth = bad. Nevertheless a good addition to the antenatal literature reminding women that they don't lose their rights in pregnancy/childbirth.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really reassuring and has given me a lot of confidence and reduced fears going into birth. The message that women are made to do this and that you have choices available to you for whatever makes you most comfortable is something we need to talk about more. We have really turned child birth into something to be feared which is not always true and is definitely not helpful.

I did find a couple of times that it urged too hard on the side on having a midwife or home births. These are not always choices that all women have, or want and it doesn’t help with anxieties or guilt surrounding those decisions.

[Ellen Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! This book gave me confidence and calmness with our birth “plan”. Giving all different examples of how birth can go and feel helped when my birth wasn’t going the way I had wanted it gave me the confidence to make good decisions to get to meet my baby.

[Djuna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

[Ingsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fijn dat het zo goed aansluit op de inzichten uit de cursus.

[Suzanne Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The bible for pregnant women

[Evi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delen over de bevalling vond ik vernieuwend en interessant. Het is wel erg populair geschreven. De schrijfstijl zorgde ervoor dat ik delen oversloeg waar ik al wat kennis over had.

[Jasmine · Rating 1 out of 5]

get fucked terf