Complete maternity care from fertility through the postnatal period

Maternity care spans a continuum that most references cover only in segments, leaving clinicians to consult multiple texts. Conception to Birth and Beyond: A Guide to Maternity Care unifies fertility, antenatal care, labour and birth, and postnatal care in a single volume. Contributors from midwifery, obstetrics, neonatology, anaesthesiology, psychiatry, and general practice across multiple countries provide multidisciplinary, internationally relevant coverage.

Chapters reflect contemporary practice with coverage of non-traditional families, transgender care, domestic violence, and antenatal and neonatal vaccination. Dedicated sections address human factors, patient safety, and learning from adverse outcomes. Patient advocates contribute as authors, grounding clinical guidance in lived experience.

Readers will also find:

• Coverage of subfertility diagnosis including tubal, ovulatory, male factor, and anatomical causes as well as unexplained infertility
• Detailed review of assisted conception steps alongside the ethical and moral implications of fertility treatment decisions
• Guidance on normal and pathological labour processes, assisted birth, caesarean birth, and analgesia options during labour
• Postnatal chapters addressing puerperal adaptation, maternal infection, perinatal psychiatry, infant feeding, and return to working life
• International perspectives on maternity and paternity leave policies reflecting care standards in both high-income and lower-income settings

Designed for medical, midwifery, and nursing students as well as trainees and practitioners in obstetrics, anaesthesiology, general practice, paediatrics, and lactation consultancy, this book delivers the full-spectrum maternity reference needed for safe, shared decision-making across clinical settings worldwide.

Mary Higgins is a Consultant Obstetrician and Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist and Professor at the UCD Perinatal Research Centre, University College Dublin. She is based at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.

David Crosby is a Consultant Obstetrician, Gynaecologist, and Subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine at the National Maternity Hospital and Merrion Fertility in Dublin, Ireland.

Shauna Callaghan, PhD, is a Midwife at the Maternal Medicine Clinic, National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.