She's more accustomed to the bright lights of the stage than those in the hospital theatre.
But Huddersfield University student Jessica Dean Cutler has gone from delivering productions to delivering babies.
Not content with managing stars of the stage, the 32-year-old has become a star pupil – topping the grades across the whole course.
Jessica, who worked as a stage manager on West End hits including Chicago and The Producers, scored a super-high average of 90.47% making her the highest scoring student and earning her a coveted 2013 Chancellor’s Award in the process.
Having graduated with a BSc in Midwifery Studies she has now become a birth suite midwife for the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, based in Burnley.
It seems a long way from her first career as a stage manager for leading theatre companies.
Jessica said her ‘dramatic’ change of direction was completely logical.
“I think midwifery is theatre,” she said. “Birth is a drama.
“I have always wanted to care for people.
“As a stage manager I cared for actors but I wanted to work with women who I felt really required some encouragement.
“In the world of theatre you have people who have essentially been quite lucky in their lives, but my job now entails working with people who have come from all walks of life and I am watching them develop as women and mothers.”
Jessica has come a long way since her first “terrifying” experience of real-life midwifery at Dewsbury.
She said: “During my first shift on labour ward there was an emergency and I stood there thinking I am never going to learn how to deal with this!
“But I stayed on and I was well supported and I feel that I am ready for anything now.”
Although she will work in all departments of midwifery, Jessica’s special area of interest is public health and she hopes to boost understanding of birth to make it fully safe for all women.
She now plans to study for a Master’s degree.
