Mary trained in Nottingham from 1992-1995 and then worked in London in both hospital and community roles. She gained specialist clinical experience and roles working with women with HIV and women with mental health problems as well as working as a labour ward sister.

In 2004 Mary moved to Scotland where she has worked as the Sure Start midwife and consultant midwife in the Scottish Borders. In addition to her clinical work, Mary developed a curricular framework for perinatal mental health education with NHS Education for Scotland, and worked as the practice development midwife for NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, assisting in the development and introduction of the Scottish Woman Held Maternity Record.

Since January 2009 Mary has been studying for her PhD full-time at the NMAHP Research Unit at the University of Stirling thanks to a studentship from the Royal College of Midwives. Her PhD research is focussing on the way in which continuous one to one midwifery support can improve labour outcomes, carrying out the largest direct observational study of intrapartum support ever carried out in the UK.