Agatha was 11 years old and living in her home country, Nigeria, West Africa, when she learnt first-hand what a midwife was.
"I remember visiting my Grandma in the village and watching her look after pregnant women – all hours of the day or night.
"She was a traditional midwife.
"I remember telling my Mum, 'I really love Grandma's job looking after pregnant women, it's very fascinating."
With her Grandma's blessings Agatha's eyes were firmly set on a career in midwifery.
After relocating to Australia in her twenties, Agatha completed a Bachelor of Nursing and Diploma in Midwifery and has been working as a registered midwife at Blacktown Hospital ever since.
Now a seasoned senior midwife, with more than 20 years' experience, Agatha has lost count of the number of babies she has delivered but owns a record of 84 deliveries in one year.
Determined to offer mothers the very best support and care, Agatha said she was eager to learn more about quality improvement and clinical leadership.
"One of my colleagues mentioned she was doing Master of Midwifery Studies at the University of Newcastle," Agatha said.
"I looked up the course on the University website.
"It was exactly what I wanted to do."
The Master degree is offered with the option for online study, which meant Agatha was able to continue working full-time at Blacktown Hospital in Sydney whilst studying. But the pressure of working as a midwife during Covid-19 began to impact Agatha's usually strong mental health.
"The pandemic period was not easy. There was a lot of stress of at work. I was looking after women who were not allowed to have a support person in the room with them," Agatha said.
"There were times I almost gave up on studying."
Just three months out from the completion of her degree, Agatha said she believed quitting was the only option to escape her declining mental resilience.
"I called the University one day and I said "Look, I'm going to quit. I can't continue anymore," Agatha said.
"But instead, the University referred me to their Counselling support services."
It was with the support of the University's Counselling service, that Agatha said she was able to make it through her final months of study and successfully complete her Master degree.
"They were fantastic," Agatha said.
"They taught me how to look after myself. It really, really helped me."
Agatha graduated from a Master of Midwifery Studies on Wednesday 12 July with her proud husband and adult children alongside to celebrate her success.
