Woman Gives Birth and Receives Doctorate Within Space of 24 Hours: 'Just Felt Like a Superhero'

28-year-old Abby Bailiff welcomed a baby boy just 24 hours before she was set to walk at her graduation ceremony

A woman in North Carolina has achieved the almost superhuman feat of welcoming a baby boy and graduating from college within the space of 24 hours.

Abby Bailiff, 28, told Good Morning America that she had been due to give birth to her baby boy named Bodie on April 27, a week ahead of her May 4 graduation from the UNC Greensboro School of Nursing. Fate, however, had other plans.

As the day of her due date passed, Bailiff told the outlet that she began to become more anxious, saying, "Every day past 40 weeks I was like, 'Oh gosh. This is getting closer and closer.’”

She added that doctors then became worried about the development of her baby’s lungs, so she was induced for pregnancy on May 2, just two days short of her graduation.

"It was not the original plan to be that close to graduation ... but Bodie had other plans,” she said.

Bailiff eventually gave birth to Bodie on May 3, at 3:08 p.m. without complications and stayed overnight at the hospital before being discharged the following day — the day of her graduation, which had been scheduled for 3 p.m.

"I was still debating on whether I was going or not, because I didn't want to be, like, a bad mom and just up and leave him right when I got home," Bailiff told GMA.

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"But around 1:30, I was like, 'I think I should really do this.' My sister and mom were here, and they were like, 'Well, let's get you ready,'" she continued.

Despite it only being 24 hours after she gave birth, Bailiff made it to her graduation on time and was able to walk across the stage to receive her doctorate for UNCG's doctor of nursing practice program, all while her husband and newborn baby watched via Facetime.

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"Once I got there and I walked in, I was like, I'm so glad I came," said Bailiff, who completed the three-year program while working as a registered nurse. "It was an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment. I can't even describe the feeling I felt. I was just overjoyed."

Her sister Hannah Allison posted a video of the accomplishment, which went viral on TikTok garnering 1.2 million views and over 156,000 likes. She captioned the video: “and that’s on girl power” along with the tags #superwoman #dnp #newmom #doctorate.

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Bailiff told GMA she was surprised and touched by the reaction people have had to her story online.

"At the moment, I was just like, I'll just go and do it, and then when my sister made the video, it just kind of put everything in perspective," Bailiff said.

“I just felt like a superhero,” she added. "Women are just so capable of doing whatever we can to accomplish our goals and still be a mom and still have career goals as well. So, it was really cool to watch."

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