Woman becomes a mom, then graduates from UNCG doctoral program: All within 24 hours

UNC Greensboro graduate Abby Bailiff is celebrating two major milestones: getting her doctorate of nursing practice degree and becoming a mother in a 24-hour period, the university said in a news release.

On May 3, one day before her graduation, Bailiff gave birth to her first child — a son named Bodie, the university said. Bailiff left the hospital with Bodie at noon on May 4 and then decided to attend her graduation ceremony hours later.

 

Bailiff earned her degree in the adult-gerontological primary care nurse practitioner concentration, the university said.

“I remember walking into the gymnasium for graduation, and everybody was just cheering and standing and there was a huge crowd,” Bailiff said. “I don’t know if it was a mix of the hormones or just how overwhelmed I was feeling, but I just started crying.

“It was just an overwhelming feeling of accomplishing so much within the last couple of days,” Bailiff said. “It felt really good.”

Bailiff became a mom right before Mother’s Day and earned her doctorate just as National Nurses Week was about to begin, the university said. As if that weren’t enough, she went viral after her sister, Hannah, posted a video about Bailiff’s 24 hours on TikTok.

The nine-second clip shows photographs of Bailiff in the hospital after giving birth to her son, followed by footage of her getting hooded by School of Nursing faculty member Autumn Henson at graduation.

The short video has been liked more than 120,000 times since it was posted on TikTok, the university said. It has received more than 1,000 comments.

 

“I want other women to know, especially those in school who get pregnant and want to do this or want to do that, we can do anything we want to do,” Bailiff said. “We have to set our minds to it. I know that sounds cliché, but that whole video put it into perspective.”