Moneeze Bernardo
- A pregnant woman takes the Physician’s licensure exams while experiencing labor pains
- Stefanelle Sibuyan hid her current status from proctors, and partner, for fear of being rushed to the hospital
- Sibuyan’s lifelong dream to become a doctor came through as she passes the exams, and safely delivers her baby boy
It is often told that pregnant women are the strongest in dealing with the pains of childbirth—of bringing out life into the world. But one story of a physician-to-be surpasses this by taking a licensure examination while at it, coming out of the unique experience an ‘ace’ for safely delivering her baby boy and passing the tests.
In a now-viral Facebook post, Stefanelle Atienzar Sibuyan shared how she powered through her Physician’s Licensure Examination (PLE) at the Mary Chiles Colleges in Sampaloc, Manila last March 11, while experiencing labor pains.
Sibuyan had a difficult pregnancy and was advised for bedrest because of her delicate situation. Carrying her baby to full term, the determined mother-to-be continued attending reviews and read her materials at home while lying down as it was her lifelong dream to become a doctor.
She recounted that she was already 1 to 2 centimeters dilated and 60 percent effaced, a week before the board exams but she did not want to miss her tests. Despite the labor pains she felt, she still hoped to be able to complete all her tests before she delivered her baby.
She began to experience spotting on the day before the last 2 days of the exam but she ended up not telling anyone, not even the baby’s father, for fear that she would be rushed to a hospital.
On the first exam date, her contractions were between 15 to 30 minutes apart. She finished the first test in an hour and tried resting while constantly checking on her baby’s movements and heart tones.
Sibuyan was determined to complete the tests before giving birth so she told her partner to wait instead at the testing center.
“I just read all the test questions once and answered them right away. Maybe it’s divine intervention. I just think of finishing the exams ahead of time so I could rest a little bit at breaks,” she said.
Posted by Eunice Stefanelle Atianzar Sibuyan on Monday, March 18, 2019
She finished her last exam in 20 minutes while experiencing contractions every 3 minutes, submitted everything, and met up with her partner. The testing site has a hospital so she delivered her baby there.
At 3:15 p.m., she was at the delivery room and 13 minutes later, her baby was born.
“Glad I delivered normal. Kasi pagka-transfer ko sa katabing hospital I’m 10 cm fully dilated na. Konting push na lang. I think nakatulong yung paglalakad ko nung nagbubuntis pa ako,” she narrated.
After three days, Sibuyan found out that she passed the exam and is now a licensed physician.
Her baby boy, however, had to be readmitted to the hospital due to neonatal sepsis after spending more than 12 hours inside the womb, after her bag of water burst. But just like his fighter mom, the baby has since recovered.
Sibuyan told ABS-CBN that “It wasn’t easy to act normal smiling at my proctors that time, because they don’t know I was already in labor. Knowing that my due date falls on March and PLE falls on the 1st and 2nd week. I never doubted myself that I can still push thru with this. Siguro lakasan na lang din ng loob, tiwala at dasal.”
Hi! I'm 1️⃣ week old today. Exactly one week from the time I was born right after mommy's Physician's Licensure…
Posted by Eunice Stefanelle Atianzar Sibuyan on Monday, March 18, 2019
“Hats off to my doctor mom! I’m not a hindrance to my mommy’s success [but] rather a blessing from up above. Mommy said I’m a risk worth taking,” Sibuyan wrote in her viral post, talking in the point-of-view of her child.
Her post now has over 9,200 likes and 1,900 shares.
