TikTok star given insight into life as midwifery student
A social media content creator with more than three million TikTok followers was given an insight into her possible future career as a midwife during a visit to the University of Bradford.
Katylee Bailey, from Bradford, visited the University’s midwifery facilities, speaking to students about a career in this field.
Despite being a full-time lifestyle content creator, Katylee has expressed an interest in training to become a midwife in the future.
Katylee, 23, said: “I’ve always had a passion in me for midwifery. I want to help the community and be a midwife one day. I’m a very caring person.
“I found it fun and interesting. I want to study midwifery one day. I can’t put a timestamp on when I will come to University. When I do it, I will come to the University of Bradford. It is close to home and the facilities are great. The midwifery students get to be immersed in that environment.
“There is a massive call for midwives. They are people we need. There is so much care that goes into it.”
Who is Katylee Bailey?
Katylee Bailey is a social media influencer with 3.1 million followers on TikTok and 391,000 followers on Instagram. She also has 60,000 followers on Snapchat and 47,000 on YouTube.
She set up her successful digital brand in 2016 on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok while still a teenager. When her social media audience grew during the pandemic’s lockdown, Katylee gave up studying for a degree in favour of pursuing her new career.
What Katylee saw during her visit
Katylee was given a tour of the state-of-the-art midwifery facilities, where she met BSc (Hons) Midwifery students Sophie Rooke and Elicia Johnson. During their conversation, Katylee learned about their educational journey and their experiences supporting women through childbirth, while the students gained insights into her successful career as an influencer.
The new midwifery facilities offer a dynamic space to host a variety of learning experiences. The students highlighted the value of Bradford's problem-based learning (PBL) midwifery curriculum, explaining how this innovative approach has been instrumental in developing their research and teamwork skills, leadership qualities and effective communication techniques.
The visit also showcased how the midwifery programmes incorporate both high and low fidelity simulation and case studies to support interactive learning and teaching.
Katylee was shown how the specially designed active birth space and modern birthing pool facilities help students develop essential skills in promoting physiological birth.
The students discussed with Katylee their growing expertise in advocating for women's choices and supporting informed, shared decision-making - core principles of midwifery practice. They were particularly passionate about sharing their experiences in providing support for women during both active births and more complex scenarios, emphasizing the critical importance of woman-centred care throughout the birthing process.
During her visit, Katylee experienced first-hand how the midwifery team integrates cutting-edge technology into their educational programme. Using the HoloLens mixed reality headset, she visualised the intricate process of a breech birth in remarkable detail, gaining an understanding of how comprehensive knowledge of female anatomy and physiology directly informs safe and effective care.
Katylee also went inside the University’s iGloo, a seven-metre wide 360-degree immersive learning space from iGloo that enables groups of students to step inside a virtual world created by floor-to-ceiling content. Bradford was one of the first installations to offer 360-degree immersivity with floor projection, creating an ultra-realistic experience.
This was made possible by funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council Capability for Collections Scheme (CapCo) via an award to Archaeology & Forensic Sciences linked to City of Culture, with support for installation through a joint business case between Digital Health & Social Care and Archaeology & Forensic Sciences.
Karen Khan, Professional Lead for Midwifery and Reproductive Health/Associate Professor/Lead Midwife for Education (LME) at the University of Bradford, said: “Katylee's enthusiasm and passion for midwifery really shone through during her visit to the University.
We were delighted to showcase our facilities and share how we have created a space that enables us to realize our vision for midwifery education at the University
It was a return visit on campus for Katylee after she gave an insight into her life on social media at the BBC Young Reporter Festival held at the University of Bradford in February 2025.
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Student midwives are using the latest Augmented Reality headsets to help them gain a deeper understanding of their profession. The HoloLens technology is used in conjunction with a reactive manikin called Lucina, which reacts to medical situations in real-time to simulate a real patient, giving students the opportunity to learn critical skills and gain valuable hands-on experience, while giving them job-ready skills valued by employers. Find out more on our website