Hannah Nouri

After high school, I went on to do a gap year program called Year 13, where I completed a Certificate in Theology. I have only one brother and we are both living out of home. My family is split evenly into those in the health profession and those in the business profession! In my free, time I love being creative, making art, and playing video games.

I’m passionate about people knowing what is best for them. In the midwifery context, this is especially important as we know that women who feel empowered in the choices that they make have better health and wellbeing outcomes.

I really value the clinical set of skills that health courses offer, but I didn’t want to do something like medicine due to the huge time commitment. I was inspired to study midwifery, as it still offered autonomy in practice whilst working with women. What I value even more is the great student care and amenities that are offered here at UTS. When I visited on Open Day, it was clear that UTS really cares about their students and wants them to succeed, but also to maintain their wellbeing while doing so.

As part of the course requirements for the Bachelor of Midwifery, a student requires 10 follow-through experiences, which is essentially working with a woman through her whole pregnancy: going to her appointments, labour, and birth, and even after birth.

A highlight from my studies was when one of my follow-throughs happened to be a person I already knew from church previously (I only found out it was her when we met for her first appointment)! This was really fun getting to work with someone I knew and seeing the pregnancy and birth process from a more personal viewpoint rather than just clinical!

Studying this degree has helped me develop a sense of acuity on what influences choices and decisions, and what influences outcomes. For example, extra support in early pregnancy can greatly improve outcomes in birth. In the best way possible, every decision you make has the opportunity to do great things.

After I finish studying, I would love to be able to get into further research whilst working in a hospital or a birth centre! There are so many things that we still don’t know about pregnancy, and it would be a great privilege to work towards broadening our understanding of the mechanics and nuances of pregnancy.

My advice to someone thinking about studying Midwifery: you need to be really on top of your classwork and assignments. The workload isn’t particularly heavy, but it works in your favour if you have a good understanding of your classwork before you jump into placement, and often placement days can be quite tiring. You can have assignments due during your placement block, so getting an early start is a self-care practice that is valuable in midwifery.

My second piece of advice: just have fun with it!

Learn more about studying Midwifery at UTS