Indonesian high school student gives birth while sitting her final-semester exam

An Indonesian grade 10 student has given birth suddenly during an exam, causing a stir among teachers and other examinees.

Indonesia news website Detikjatim reported on Friday that students at SMA Negeri 1 high school at Sampang on Madura island were taking a final-semester exam when there was a commotion among the students.

Muhammad Nurchalid, the teacher supervising the exam on Thursday, said that when he heard the noise, “I warned the students to calm down, but they were still noisy and it was followed by the sound of a baby crying”.

On closer inspection, he said, “it turned out that a student was covered in blood, with a baby beside her”.

Be Sunni or be a refugee: tough choice for Indonesia’s Shiite Muslim community

Nurchalid then contacted a female teacher and the school’s public relations officer, and the student was taken to a community health centre for medical help.

“However, because the baby’s placenta didn’t come out, and the condition of the baby’s mother was unstable, she was finally referred to Dr Mohammad Zyn Sampang Regional Hospital,” he explained.

The teacher and the student’s family said they were shocked by the incident as there had been no signs the student was pregnant.

Grade 10 students in Indonesia are generally around 16 years of age.

The school admitted that it had not been suspicious of the student, who has not been named, as she was overweight.

The school head, Sukardi, said on Friday that from the local midwife’s statement, the student had experienced a normal pregnancy of nine months, and her baby girl weighed 3.2kg.

‘Both mum and dad’: pregnant Indian excited to become a father

However, he said, the student had been placed in intensive care because of seizures due to bleeding, but was continuing to improve.

“We received news at around half past 11 last night that the placenta had been successfully removed. Thank God, it is now better. The baby has been brought home,” said Sukardi on Friday.