When Brianna Hill's water broke while taking the bar exam, the recent law school graduate in Chicago soldiered on, finishing the section in accordance with the test's remote rules, which say lawyers must remain seated to ensure they aren't cheating.
After cleaning up and checking with her family and midwife, she finished the second portion too. Only after that did she and her husband head to the hospital, where their son was born less than five hours later.
The next day, Hill completed the rest of the exam — four 90-minute segments in total — from a private hospital room, breastfeeding her newborn during breaks.
"The whole time [during labor] my husband and I were talking about how I wanted to finish the test and my midwife and nurses were on board," Hill said, according to Above the Law. "There just wasn't another option in my mind."
The story took off, and was picked up by multiple media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times, the Hill, and many other local news outlets around the country.
It's not the only recent viral story of a woman, well, laboring in labor. When Dr. S. Keisin Wang posted a photo of his wife, surgical resident Dr. Natalie Drucker, working from a hospital bed, nearly 10,000 people "liked" it and about 900 retweeted it.
But four women told Insider that working during labor, at least the initial stages, is common and not necessarily a big deal. While some raised concerns about that reality — saying it's a reflection of a culture without required paid maternity leave, for instance — others said it was a welcome distraction or even empowering.