Lawyer who gave birth during bar exam reveals she passed: ‘Females are strong as hell’

‘I took part of the exam sitting on towels because my water had broken and the other part sitting on an ice pack because I had given birth the night before,’ she said

Woman who took bar exam while in labour announces she passed (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A lawyer who took the bar exam while in labour, before giving birth and finishing the test, has learned she passed.

In October, Brianna Hill, a recent graduate from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law was sitting for the first day of the remote exam when her water broke.

Rather than rush to the hospital, Hill continued on with the test, only pausing to clean herself and call her husband during a break in the exam.

"I didn't think about it because I was in the test," she told NBC Chicago. "I cleaned myself up, called my husband and the test kept going.”

After completing the first part of the exam, Hill went to the hospital to have her son, Cassius Phillip, which is where she took the second half of the exam the following day in a private room with a “do not disturb” sign.

On Tuesday, Hill revealed on Facebook in a celebratory post that she passed the exam and is now officially a lawyer.

“FEMALES ARE STRONG AS HELL,” the new mother wrote, before sharing additional details of her unique birthing story.

“I took part of the exam sitting on towels because my water had broken and the other part sitting on an ice pack because I had given birth the night before,” she continued. “I was told to medically withdraw after the first day because there would not be a way for me to finish in the hospital. I haemorrhaged after birth and took the second day of the test while anaemic.”

Hill also revealed she’d gotten less than two hours of sleep before the second day of testing because her “sweet baby was SO grunty” and that she breastfed the newborn in between test sessions.

“I did all of this because I did not see any other option to accomplish both my goals - become a lawyer and a mom,” she wrote.

Hill praised her support system as well, including the nursing staff at the hospital, her doula and “all my other friends and family who were cheering us on virtually”.

The new lawyer concluded the post expressing her happiness over her achievement, adding: “All this to say, I am SO happy I get to be a lawyer officially and am so thankful that I got here. Now, I am going to go celebrate with my cute little family.”

On social media, Hill’s accomplishment has been met with messages of support from both acquaintances and strangers.

“This is crazy unbelievable!! What a woman! I was such a nervous wreck taking the bar exam, I can't even IMAGINE doing it while in labour?!” one person tweeted.

Another said: “SO SO PROUD OF YOU. Females sure are strong as hell and you set the ‘bar’ high!!”

While Hill is proud of herself, she told Above The Law that she also credits privilege with allowing her to achieve her goals.

“I am so happy I passed the bar, but this experience has made even more clear to me how the bar is not always a test of competency as it is a test of privilege,” she said. “I was so fortunate to have incredible support and I just hope my story can emphasise some of the areas in the legal profession that could be modified to become more equitable.

“Now, I can’t wait to start my career on top of starting my life as a mama!”