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Taking the bar exam alone is no simple task, but an aspiring lawyer and new mom was still able to finish the test despite being in labor.
Brianna Hill, 28, took the Illinois State Bar Exam while in labor on Oct. 5, as per Good Morning America yesterday, Oct. 9. She was originally due to give birth on Oct. 19.
Hill, aptly given the title “supermom,” noted that her water broke while taking the first part of the two-part exam, which was conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I started the second section and 15 to 20 minutes in, I started having contractions,” Hill was quoted as saying. “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 couldn’t leave the view of the camera.”
Being in labor, however, did not stop Hill, who noted that she was determined to finish the test and that she did not really know what being in labor felt like as it was her first pregnancy, according to the report.
She then finished the first day of the exams and went to the West Suburban Medical Center with her husband, Cameron Andrew, to give birth to their son, Cassius Phillip.
As she was scheduled to take the final leg of the exams immediately the day after, Oct. 6, her midwife and hospital staff helped Hill by setting a room up for her in the hospital where she could take the test.
Hill rightfully expressed her gratitude toward the hospital staff, noting that “there were all these professional women supporting me and my professional goals,” the report said.
The new mom also stressed that her biggest takeaway from the incident is that she has an incredible support system—from her mom, her law school friends who texted her, “You got this,” and her husband who immediately tried to figure out how she was going to finish the exams despite being in labor.
Hill was initially supposed to take the exams on July 28, but the Bar was postponed because of the pandemic.
In an interview with law-focused news website Above the Law on Oct. 8, Hill said that she was only supposed to be 28 weeks pregnant then, as opposed to being 38 weeks pregnant when she actually took the exams.
Hill graduated from the Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law only last May. Ian Biong /ra
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