Woman gives birth then sits exam half an hour later

‘My labour wasn’t difficult at all,’ says 21-year-old who took tests from hospital bed in Ethiopia

Almaz Derese takes her exams (Ilu Aba Bora zone communication office)

A woman in Ethiopia has reportedly taken a series of exams from her hospital bed only 30 minutes after giving birth.

Almaz Derese, 21, who had been studying during her pregnancy, went into labour shortly before the exams were set to begin on Monday.

She decided she did not want to wait until next year for the annual secondary school exams, so took the tests only half an hour after her son was born, according to the BBC.

Ms Almaz sat the maths, English, Amharic while sitting up in bed in the Karl Metu hospital in western Ethiopia’s Oromia region.

The 21-year-old’s baby boy is said to be doing well, and she is expected to sit her remaining subjects at the local exam centre later this week.

Ms Almaz had originally hoped to undertake the exams in plenty time for the birth, but they had to be delayed because of Ramadan.

Her husband Tadese Tulu then persuaded the school to let her to take the tests from the hospital.

“Because I was rushing to sit the exam, my labour wasn’t difficult at all,” Ms Almaz told the BBC’s Oromo language service.

Some women in Ethiopia drop out of school as teenagers and only return later to finish their studies and take their exams.

The 21-year-old mother is now set to embark on a two-year course with the aim of going to university.