A law school graduate from Illinois went into labor while taking the bar exam, gave birth, and went back to finish it.
Brianna Hill of Illinois knew she would be pregnant during her bar exam, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put her in a challenging situation.
“I thought I would only be 28 weeks pregnant when I took the bar,” said Hill during an interview.
“However, due to the pandemic, the test was pushed to October and I was going to be 38 weeks. I joked about taking the test from my hospital bed. Lesson learned!”
Graduating from Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law in May, she was initially scheduled to take the bar on July 28 and 29 before the pandemic caused the exams to be postponed.
The two-part exam was done remotely this year due to the pandemic, and Hill was taking part one of the exam when her water broke.
“I started the second section and 15 to 20 minutes in, I started having contractions,” she said.
“I had already asked for an accommodation to get up and go to the bathroom because I was 38 weeks pregnant and they said I’d get flagged for cheating.”
“I took my break, got myself cleaned up, called my husband, midwife, and mom, cried because I was a little panicked, then sat down to take the second part because my midwife told me I had time before I needed to go to the hospital,” she added.
Her determination pushed her to finish the exam despite her showing signs of labor.
“Also, I’ve never been pregnant before, so I was [thinking], ‘I don’t know what this feels like.’”
Hill finished day one of the exam before she and her husband Cameron Andrew went to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois.
It is there when Hill gave birth to her first born, Cassius Phillip Andrew.
However, since Hill is scheduled to finish part two of the bar the following day, her midwife and hospital staff reserved a private room for her, and had put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door so she could complete the exam.
“The whole time my husband and I were talking about how we wanted me to finish the test and my midwife and nurses were so on board. There just wasn’t another option in my mind,” Hill said.
“I’m so thankful for the support system I had around me. The midwives and nurses were so invested in helping me not only become a mom but also a lawyer.”