New Zealand’s Prime Minister Gives Birth to Baby Girl

Jacinda Adern, New Zealand’s youngest Prime Minister has given birth to a baby girl. The Prime Minister shared a photo of herself with her daughter and her husband, Clarke Gayford on Thursday afternoon, with “Welcome to our village wee one” as the caption on Instagram.

The Big Arrival

Their daughter arrived just before 5pm on Thursday afternoon, weighing in at 3.31kg. She thanked everyone for their best wishes and thanked the team at Auckland City Hospital. She arrived at the hospital early on Thursday morning, having worked right up to the birth. Her husband posted a photo of her on social media on Wednesday afternoon with the hash tag #stillwaiting, as she studied official looking documents.

Twenty eight years ago Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, gave birth while holding office, and was the first world leader to do so. Incidentally, Benazir Bhutto shares a birthday with Jacinda and Clarke’s baby daughter. Jacinda Adern is the second woman to give birth while leading a country.

Maternity Leave & a Stay-At-Home Dad

Ms Adern will take six weeks maternity leave and her Deputy, Winston Peters, will run the country while she’s away. Once Adern returns to work in August, her husband Clarke will be a stay at home Dad, but will travel between Wellington and their home in Auckland, and on international engagements.

Smashing Through Glass Ceilings

New Zealand has a long history of women in politics with it being the first country in the world to give women the right to vote, in 1893. Adern is New Zealand’s third female Prime Minister. It was noted by Helen Clarke, New Zealand’s former Prime Minister that Jancinda Adern has broken several boundaries and successfully smashed through the glass ceilings that so many women face. Not only is she New Zealand’s first female Prime Minister to give birth while in office, but also because she is not married, and her partner will be the stay-at-home parent. She went on to say that Jacinda Adern has shown “that no doors are closed to women”.

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