The bar exam was inconveniently scheduled, but a Northwestern Law alumna sucked it up to ensure that she was admitted to the Illinois bar. She was in active labor during the exam and gave birth two hours after completing it:
Before the start of the afternoon session on day two (Wednesday) of the Illinois bar exam, the very pregnant MBE mentioned to the proctors the possibility that she might give birth during the test. She asked if she could leave early in the event that she went into labor; they agreed.
So Mother Bar Exam sat down for the afternoon session of the Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”). Not long after, she started going into labor — not a little discomfort, but full-on labor.[...]
Upon completing the exam, Mother Bar Exam notified the proctors that she was done and needed to leave, seeing as she was, you know, in the middle of giving birth and all. Normally candidates are not allowed to leave the room early, but in this case the proctors accommodated her (especially since she had mentioned the issue to them beforehand).
One proctor was even nice enough to carry MBE’s bag as she walked over to Prentice Women’s Hospital at Northwestern — conveniently located across the street from the testing site. Shortly before 6 p.m., Mother Bar Exam gave birth to a healthy baby boy, via Caesarean section.
Link -via Glenn Reynolds | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user nagobe used under Creative Commons license
When Emma Smith of Leytonstone, UK, went into labor, her husband Leroy realized that they wouldn’t be able to get to the hospital in time. He then used his BlackBerry to find instructions online on how to deliver a child:
So the 29-year-old grabbed hold of his BlackBerry, accessed the internet and sought help from search engine Google for step-by-step instructions.
And after following the detailed guide on the internet’s wikiHow Emma safely gave birth to daughter 6lb 11oz Mahalia Merita Angela Smith.
Five minutes after the delivery the midwife arrived to cut the umbilical cord of their fourth child.
Link via Gizmodo | Photo: US Department of Health and Human Services
When a baby wants to come into the world, he/she doesn’t care if the mother is ready. If her due date is still some time away, the mother may be anywhere. There are also cases where circumstances get in the way, as in the case of Rosita Cheindza.
It sounds like the birth story of an ancient goddess, but it’s true. Ms Cheindza was near term in 2000 when flood waters raged through her town in Mozambique. She climbed a tree to escape the crocodile-infested waters and stayed there for four days with nothing to drink or eat. Finally on the fourth day, her baby came. Soon after, helicopters arrived to winch the mother and the baby, Rosita, to safety.
And that’s only the first of ten strange birthplace stories. Link -via Unique Daily
Jo Stephens of Cornwall had planned a home birth, but when her labor pains started, no midwife could come. And the ambulance wasn’t going to make it in time, either. Luckily, her husband Marc had been watching YouTube videos just hours before on how to deliver a baby.
A few hours earlier, Mr Stephens has been reading up on home births and how to cope with anything unexpected.
“The videos gave me peace of mind. I think I would have coped, but watching videos made things much easier.”
The Stephens delivered a 5 pound, 5 ounce boy they named Gabriel. Both mother and child were later taken to a hospital where they were pronounced healthy. Link -via Gizmodo

