Just before one o'clock in the afternoon, Camila breastfed little Helena, just three days old, before she went to have the so-called heel prick exam at the hospital with her aunt. Camila then entered the testing room and began another marathon, this time not with a newborn baby, but answering a series of entrance exam questions. Camila Omae, 20 years old, is among the 13 thousand candidates in the second phase of the Unicamp 2017 Entrance Exam and is trying to get a place on the Chemical Engineering course. She had the baby last Friday and started her college entrance exams on Sunday.
“As Helena was born naturally, I felt very good about being able to take the tests. In two days, she was released and so was she. Breastfeeding at the beginning was more complicated until the milk came in, until I got the hang of it, but now everything is fine”, said Camila.
She and Helena's father, Lucas de Campos Mello, 27, say they contacted Comvest in advance, as they thought Camila would take the test while still pregnant and about to give birth and the Commission would need to be notified. The agreement was that they would maintain contact so that Comvest could assist them in the best way, depending on Camila's conditions.
“We knew, from the first contact, that this was a case that required differentiated treatment, with special attention to the mother and baby. We always try to be prepared for these special situations”, explained Edmundo Capelas de Oliveira, executive coordinator of Comvest.
According to Camila, this attention was decisive. “The team has been very attentive and gave us all the conditions so that I could take the second phase tests, including in an individual room, which makes breastfeeding easier,” she said.
And these last few days, this has been Camila and little Helena's routine: calculations, problem solving, writing texts interspersed with breaks to breastfeed. As Lucas is also taking the entrance exam, those who have been helping Camila are two of her sisters. “When Helena starts crying, they look at the diaper and if that’s not it, it’s hunger!”, commented Camila.
“She is very determined. I don't know how you're doing it, because stopping to breastfeed, then getting back to focusing and thinking again isn't easy. You have to have strength”, said Larissa Omae, Camila’s sister.
Lucas, who has already completed part of the Computer Engineering course and is trying to get a place to finish his degree, says that the hardest part has been staying focused. “While I’m taking the test, I’m focused, but when I remember them, it gives me some agony.”
Camila says that she chose a night course precisely so that she can spend more time with Helena during the day. “If I pass, we will set up a rotation scheme, we can always find a way and when classes start, Helena will already be three months old and have a more defined routine. She will bring me luck!” she said.
“We were even afraid that she would be born during the exams, but Helena made our life easier and arrived two days before the entrance exam”, celebrated Lucas.
First time
According to Comvest, in 30 years of entrance exams, this is the first time that a newborn baby has been brought to be breastfed during the tests.
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