Rutgers University doctoral student goes into early labor, gives birth on same day she defends dissertation from hospital [Video]

NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey — This Mother’s Day will be especially poignant for a New Jersey woman who will not only celebrate being a mom, but also becoming a doctor.

Tamiah Brevard-Rodriguez was working on her doctoral dissertation presentation from Rutgers University when she went into labor on March 25.

She was only eight months pregnant and was scheduled to deliver her dissertation defense that day.

“I was physically prepared for a pregnancy, mentally my brain was not on a baby,” she said. “So I was having a very emotional response to knowing I was in labor, knowing I had this defense. I was literally shaking.”

She had everything planned out with staff and faculty at Rutgers to examine standards Black women face on historically white college campuses.

But things went off schedule when her water broke. Brevard-Rodriguez’s wife rushed to their car after their doula told them to get moving as contractions increased.

The …