--- title: Author Karen Lawrence Delivered Babies in the NHS, Now She Delivers Bestselling Stories description: Former NHS midwife Karen Lawrence began writing during the Covid pandemic. Her debut novel The Last Midwife, a dystopian thriller about state-controlled chil... author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-03-18T12:28:50.629Z updated: 2026-06-29T08:43:53.505Z canonical: https://richwoman.co/article/nhs-midwife-karen-lawrence-debut-novel-the-last-midwife image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/karen-profile.webp categories: Fiction content_type: Profile region: United Kingdom publication: Rich Books about: - type: Person name: Karen Lawrence description: Karen Lawrence is a former NHS midwife and bestselling author from Billericay, Essex. She holds three degrees in English Literature, including a PhD on Religious Faith in the Victorian Novel. After careers in midwifery, health visiting, and antenatal education, she began writing during the Covid pandemic. Her books include The Last Midwife, I Used To Be A Midwife, Letting The Light In, Walking to Walsingham, and Finding Your Calm Space. url: https://karenlawrenceauthor.com jobTitle: Author sameAs: - https://www.instagram.com/karenlawrenceauthor/ - https://www.facebook.com/Karenlawrencewrites/ - https://www.tiktok.com/@karenlawrenceauthor/ - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karen-Lawrence/e/B08NZP8KBY --- Karen Lawrence was 48 years old when she went back to university to train as a midwife. She had already raised seven children. The decision was not about switching careers. It was a calling. She worked on busy NHS wards, delivering babies and [supporting women](https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/women-are-amazing-healing-birth-trauma-with-lisa-thompson) through one of the most intense experiences of their lives. She saw mothers birthing in their own power. She also saw the pressures of an overstretched hospital system, the moments where institutional procedure pushed up against what women actually needed. Those experiences stayed with her long after she left the profession. Then the pandemic arrived. > "I have moved from catching babies to catching stories. Both vocations require patience, a steady hand, and a deep respect for the human experience." > — Karen Lawrence Like millions of people across the country, Lawrence found herself at home with time to fill and thoughts to process. She started writing. What began as a way to pass the quiet hours of lockdown turned into something she could not put down. The stories that had been building inside her for years, from labour wards and delivery rooms and long conversations with mothers, finally had somewhere to go. Her debut novel, [The Last Midwife](https://mybook.to/TheLastMidwife), was published in November 2025. It became a bestseller. ### Book: The Last Midwife *What if childbirth was controlled by the state?* By Karen Lawrence A feminist dystopian thriller set in a future England where childbirth has become a state-controlled procedure and midwifery is banned. [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4lA668F) ## A Future England Where Midwives Are Outlawed The Last Midwife is set in a dystopian version of England where childbirth has become a state-controlled procedure. The population is confined to cities. A one-child policy is in force. All babies are born by caesarean section, referred to as "Neonates" within the system. Midwives have been outlawed for decades. The story follows three women. Chiara, a young nurse who arrives from Sicily to work at the Genesis Centre, only to discover the horrifying truth behind its clinical walls. Rava, the privileged wife of a government official, whose carefully constructed life begins to unravel when her pregnancy fails to meet her husband's expectations. And on the canals outside the city, an outlaw midwife who risks everything to help women give birth in secret, keeping alive a practice the state has tried to erase. Lawrence describes the book as a [feminist dystopian thriller](https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/the-last-viracocha-douglas-schofield-writes-about-women-who-do-not-wait-to-be-rescued), but its roots sit firmly in what she saw during her time in the NHS. The medicalisation of birth, the erosion of women's choices, the tension between institutional control and compassionate care: these are things she watched play out on hospital wards, taken to their extreme conclusion. "The book is about the crucial importance of midwives in safeguarding women's freedoms and human life," Lawrence says. "It contrasts a highly medicalised and coercive birth environment with the holistic and respectful care provided by an outlaw midwife living and working on a canal boat." ## From the Ward to the Page Lawrence did not come to writing from an obvious starting point. She holds three degrees in English Literature, including a PhD on religious faith in the Victorian novel, but her professional life had taken her into healthcare. After leaving her midwifery role, she became a health visitor, pregnancy yoga teacher, and antenatal instructor. Writing fiction was not on the plan. But the pandemic changed the shape of her days, and the stories came. First came I Used To Be A Midwife, a collection of short stories and poems drawn directly from her time in the profession. Then her memoir, Letting The Light In, about raising her youngest daughter, who has Down syndrome. Then The Last Midwife. The novel carries a 4.5-star rating on Amazon from over 500 reviews and a 4.4-star rating on Goodreads from more than 360 readers. It is now available as an audiobook on Audible and Spotify. Lawrence is already working on a sequel. ## "Midwives Are Warriors" Lawrence has spoken openly about what drives the story: > "Midwives are warriors. We don't give up. We don't bow to the powers that be. Women and their babies rely on us. You might say life itself depends on us. So we keep fighting, warriors till our last breath." > — Karen Lawrence It comes from the time she spent alongside women in labour, watching midwives advocate for their patients against institutional pressure. The novel makes the case that this work matters, and that the freedoms it protects should not be taken for granted. Lawrence lives in Billericay, Essex, with her family. She has seven grown-up children and two grandchildren. When she is not writing, she walks, swims in the sea, and spends time at the family caravan in Suffolk. She is a keen advocate for people with disabilities, and has pledged to include at least one character with Down syndrome in every novel she writes. The Last Midwife is available now in paperback, ebook, and audiobook. ## Frequently Asked Questions **Q: What is The Last Midwife about?** The Last Midwife is a feminist dystopian thriller set in a future England where childbirth has become a state-controlled procedure and midwifery is banned. It follows three women whose lives intersect around the fight for birth freedom: a young nurse from Sicily, the wife of a government official, and an outlaw midwife who delivers babies in secret from a canal boat. **Q: Is The Last Midwife based on real NHS experiences?** Author Karen Lawrence trained and worked as a midwife in the NHS before becoming a novelist. While the novel is fiction, its themes of medicalised birth, institutional pressure, and the erosion of women's choices are drawn directly from her time on hospital wards. She began writing during the Covid lockdown, and the story grew from experiences that had stayed with her for years. **Q: Is The Last Midwife available as an audiobook?** Yes. The Last Midwife is available as an audiobook on Audible and Spotify, as well as in paperback and ebook formats. It can be purchased through Amazon and other major retailers. **Q: Will there be a sequel to The Last Midwife?** Karen Lawrence has confirmed she is currently working on a sequel to The Last Midwife. **About Karen Lawrence** Author Karen Lawrence is a former NHS midwife and bestselling author from Billericay, Essex. She holds three degrees in English Literature, including a PhD on Religious Faith in the Victorian Novel. After careers in midwifery, health visiting, and antenatal education, she began writing during the Covid pandemic. Her books include The Last Midwife, I Used To Be A Midwife, Letting The Light In, Walking to Walsingham, and Finding Your Calm Space. [Website](https://karenlawrenceauthor.com)