Nurse turns stillbirth into purpose, graduates with degree in bereavement care
Luba Makarov, whose baby was stillborn 14 years ago, graduated with a master's degree in mental health nursing.
Luba Makarov was inspired 14 years ago by a nurse-midwife who showed her what good trauma care looked like after her stillbirth. Makarov remembered that moment.
This week she graduated from the University of Newcastle with a master's degree in mental health nursing. Makarov was the first in her family to finish university.
Makarov studied online while working as a nurse at Queensland Children's Hospital and raising three children as a single mother. A university scholarship covered her childcare costs, which she says made the whole degree possible.
Now she wants to work as a midwife helping families who face loss like hers, with the same compassionate, informed care she remembered.
- 14
- Years since stillbirth
- 3
- Children she raised alone
- Queensland Children's Hospital
- Workplace
- September 23
- Graduation date
Why it mattersOne person's grief became a skill and a calling. Her story shows how university support lets people in hard circumstances reach goals that help others.
AustraliaMakarov is a Queensland nurse-practitioner who will bring her lived experience to bereavement care in Australia, filling a crucial gap in how hospitals support families after pregnancy loss.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 1 d ago
