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Pregnant woman submits PhD from maternity ward before giving birth on Christmas Day

Baby Theodore was born three weeks early

Olivia Petter
Friday 27 December 2019 12:34 GMT
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A pregnant woman achieved quite the feat just hours before giving birth, having submitted her university thesis from her hospital bed.

On Monday 23 December, Sarah Humphrey finished her PhD thesis in the maternity ward at St Michael's Hospital in Bristol.

Humphrey had been studying psychology at the University of Bristol and described the hospital conditions as a "stressful" place in which to submit her thesis.

Two days later, on Christmas Day, Humphrey gave birth to her son Theodore at 9.19am.

Theodore was born three weeks earlier than expected and weighed 6lbs 4oz.

The newborn is Humphrey's second child with husband Simon, following on from their four-year-old son Elijah.

In total, there were 11 babies born on Christmas Day at St Michael's Hospital.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Christmas Day is one of the least popular birthdays in the UK, with an average of 1,400 births each year.

This is compared to nearly 2,000 babies born every year on 26 September, which the ONS found to be the most common birthday.

Simon and Sarah Humphrey pictured with their newborn son, Theodore.

"While the Christmas holidays may be a popular time to make a baby there tend to be fewer babies born, with six of the 10 least popular dates of birth falling in the Christmas and New Year period," the ONS states.

"This is likely to be due to the large number of bank holidays over the period. Hospitals will generally only be delivering natural births and carrying out emergency caesareans over the holidays.

"Induced births and elective caesareans are likely to be scheduled on alternative dates."

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