The House gets family friendly
New Zealand’s Parliament is fast becoming more family friendly, with the help of the Speaker and some multi-tasking mums.
On Wednesday, new Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime breastfed her baby in the debating chamber.
She’s not the first to feed a baby on the floor but thanks to recently amended Parliamentary rules, she and other MPs are allowed to have their babies in the House without fear of being ejected on a technicality.
Later in the day, newly elected Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard held Prime’s 3-month-old baby Heeni on his lap while members debated a bill on the extension of paid parental leave.
It was fitting for the members to be debating the extension of paid parental leave (to 26 weeks by 2020, starting with a boost to 22 weeks in July), while the baby girl was in the House.
And it comes a day after Mallard said some aspects of Parliament needed to be modernised, and in some cases, made more family friendly.
Prime said having a baby and being an MP was ‘‘really, really challenging’’ but she had her family supporting her.
‘‘It takes a village,’’ Prime said. The new MP’s mother was at Parliament with her full-time, to help look after Heeni, and when possible Prime would express milk in advance so her mum could bottle feed the baby.
But that wasn’t possible on Wednesday, with MPs starting work at 8am and finishing at 10pm.
Having the flexibility to take babies into the House also made things easier for supporters - like Prime’s mum - who needed a break.
The Speaker, Parliamentary Services, and the Labour Party had all been supportive, Prime said, adding that many MPs had young children and they understood the struggles.
Prime said she had received a lot of positive feedback from Kiwi mums, but there had also been some negative comments.
Former National MP Katherine Rich breastfed her baby Georgia in the House in 2002.
Both her children Georgia and Jonathan were welcome at Parliament, she said, adding that the then-Speaker Jonathan Hunt noted Jonathan’s arrival and said he approved of his name.
‘‘Babies make people smile so I think they liked to see new life pushed in the pram around the corridors... Often other MPs would come in for a baby cuddle.
‘‘John Carter, National’s whip at the time, was a huge support and during one caucus function Bill English carried baby Jonathan around the whole time’’, Rich said.
When Jonathan was born in 2001, former prime minister Jenny Shipley asked former National MP Ruth Richardson to visit Rich at Parliament to share some advice.
‘‘She gave me great advice in her no-nonsense way. She said babies are not handbags to be carted everywhere as they need their routines and sleep. Their needs come first.’’
While Parliament had become more family friendly, it was ‘‘very, very tough’’ being an MP with a baby in tow, she said.
Rich said in 2002 there was the risk she and her baby could have been ejected from the House if her baby was seen as a ‘‘stranger’’, but that didn’t happen.
MPs are technically prohibited from bringing any ‘‘strangers’’ into the house, except under specific circumstances. A ‘‘stranger’’ in this context is anyone who isn’t an MP or a parliamentary official.
In the past it was up to the Speaker to decide whether a baby was a stranger - and thus allowed in a restricted sense into the House. Since the standing orders were updated ahead of the election, there was no longer the fear of babies being considered ‘‘strangers’’.
New Zealand isn’t the only country that has these rules.
In 2012, Canadian MP Sania Hassainia caused a stir after carrying her young baby onto the floor of the House of Commons for an important vote. After first being ejected she was later welcomed back, and set a precedent.
Earlier this year, former Australian senator Larissa Waters made history when she breastfed her infant inside the Australian Parliament.
And last year, an independent review in the UK said MPs should be allowed to breastfeed in the chamber of the House of Commons during debates to set an example to the rest of society.
A milestone in the New Zealand Parliament’s history regarding breastfeeding was in 1983 when former National MP Ruth Richardson pushed to be able to breastfeed her baby at work.
Richardson gave birth during recess, and when the House was called back early, she brought her baby with her.
In 1983, due in large part to her efforts, a special room was made for breastfeeding. In the 1990s Parliament established a childcare centre.
In 1970, Labour MP Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan returned to work two weeks after giving birth, and looked after her baby in her office.
When asked about MPs bringing babies to work and breastfeeding in the chamber, she said ‘‘this is now the new normal’’.