A mum-of-three who became pregnant at 14 is celebrating after qualifying as a midwife - and hopes to help other teenage parents.
Stephanie Walker says there's a stigma attached to teenage mothers and believes there's an expectation they can't achieve anything.
But Stephanie, who fell pregnant with Daniel at 14 while studying for her GCSEs, hopes her story will inspire others.
Stephanie had struggled with her GCSEs - achieving four Es, four Ds and one C - as she looked after her little bump.
But amazingly, she managed to retake her GCSEs at Newcastle College before going to Tyne Metropolitan College and Northumbria University.
The newly qualified midwife, 29, graduated from a Midwifery Studies course at Northumbria on Sunday - where she delivered nearly 50 babies in three years.
She says she got distinctions in every subject during her midwifery course.
Stephanie is now doing shifts with the same midwife, Joyce, who helped her own teen pregnancy.
An emotional Stephanie said: “It’s so brilliant and a relief to pass my course.
“I can’t believe I’ve done it.
“We haven’t celebrated yet, so we’re going to try and organise a socially distanced garden graduation as it’s been postponed until next July.
“I’ve had some great support from my parents who were foster carers. They’ve looked in, supported me and my partner James, and made sure we can attend everything that’s assigned to me.
“I never had a career - and had every potential to stay at home to raise my children.
“But I knew I had to get back into it and make something of myself. I hope I can inspire other women.
“Especially as there’s such a stigma attached to teenage mums. We’re expected to never achieve anything.”
Stephanie, who has gone on to have Isaac, seven, and Freddy, six, started a Health and Social Care Course at Newcastle College straight after school.
“They weren’t the GCSEs I needed. I think as soon as I found out that I was pregnant, that was when I started putting in more effort with school.
"But I think it was too late at that point and I was too distracted.”
Determined to pursue midwifery, she slaved away doing the Access to Health night course at Tyne Metropolitan College for more than two years.
She volunteered as a breastfeeding supporter and ran a group for new mums during her pregnancy - to help secure her university place.
And in 2017, a 27-year-old Stephanie embarked on the specialised subject at Northumbria University.
But the mum revealed that it was tough to navigate school lessons and breastfeeding - and the expectations of her classmates.
“People would always say ‘ooh are you having a baby?’ or ‘what would your mum say?’
“It wasn't a thing to be celebrated so it was a shame. It was quite an adverse thing to think about.
“I didn't think I could breastfeed because I was so young. But I started to express during lessons. I would go and hide out in a little office space every three hours.
“I wasn't a confident breastfeeder at the time. I was so immature.
“Luckily I was able to store my milk and bring it home.
“It was really lonely because no one understood what I was going through. I was having to wear breast pads and stuff like that.
“Nobody can relate to you at all.”
Meanwhile her father was struggling to adapt to his daughter’s new look at home - and spent three months trying to wrap his head around it.
“He was a man of few words at the start. It took him a few months to adjust to the fact I was pregnant”, she admitted.
“I certainly didn’t celebrate my baby boy throughout the pregnancy.
“I do feel like I shamed my family a bit, so I certainly hid my bump a lot. Eventually everyone got used to it after the scan.
“It certainly didn't resonate and I couldn't quite picture myself with a baby. I didn’t know anyone with a baby so didn't really know what it was like."
And she only celebrated little Daniel after his birth - taking him to pick up her GCSEs and showing him off.
Stephanie’s mum Jude would help her with night feeds and make sure she got out of bed every morning.
“My mum would let me socialise, which was really important for my mental health.
“I did suffer with postnatal depression - and took some time to adapt. I was lonely postnatally. I would say that I definitely struggled initially.”
Speaking about the importance of midwives, she added: “I think knowing that I was in a similar position helps me build that trust and feelings of non-judgement.
“Everyone has been brilliant with me. Especially doing sessions with my midwife Joyce who helped me with my first child.
“I got distinctions in every subject. I was in such shock and didn’t think I was capable.
“I realised I was capable and got some self belief.
“I really hope this honours my midwife.”
