First-time mum and councillor
Get ready for cooing and clucking at Hamilton’s newly elected council.
First-time Hamilton city councillor Sarah Thomson and husband Lloyd Stockman are expecting their first baby in June.
The 29-year-old first realised she was in the early days of pregnancy after local election voting opened in October.
‘‘We were both very happy and excited,’’ Thomson said. ‘‘And all the [council] staff have said: bring baby in if you need to and we will help look after them.’’
She does not think she is the first Hamilton councillor to give birth during her council term but she is certainly the first in decades.
Thomson is well known for taking the Government to court in 2017 as a law student, for failing to properly address climate change.
Last year she was voted in as one of four new female councillors and Hamilton west ward’s only fresh face following the October elections.
The pregnancy capped off a whirlwind year for the couple, who married early last year.
Just over 20 weeks pregnant, the pair now know they are expecting a baby boy.
Reactions to her pregnancy have been ‘‘empowering and encouraging’’, Thomson said from her council office, sporting a modest bump.
‘‘When I told [mayor] Paula she was like ‘awesome’. But she was so relaxed. She was like: cool, bundle up baby and bring [him] along.’’
Other councillors have been effusive in their support, encouraging Thomson to bring her baby to the chambers whenever necessary.
‘‘[Hamilton City Council] staff are looking at how do we continue to make it a more and more welcoming place for young parents.’’
Eventually, council will look at installing better technology to chambers, in case parents with sick children need to work remotely.
‘‘I think everyone has a very can-do attitude now, especially after you have a prime minister who has a baby in the middle of being in office.
‘‘It really is just the case of giving people the support that they need. Because [motherhood] is a hard job, I can imagine.’’
And Thomson hopes her news will help normalise having babies in office, for other women.
‘‘Eventually there won’t even be a newspaper article,’’ she says. ‘‘The male councillors, a lot of them have had children while they have been in office, it is just that it is not quite so obvious.’’
The couple make a ‘‘very good team’’ and will share the parenting load, juggling their schedules.
Like all parents, the lack of sleep is something they are not as excited about, Stockman said.
Thomson considers herself lucky for her flexible schedule, particularly now she has resigned from her job as a community lawyer to be a fulltime councillor.
‘‘It is such an amazing opportunity, I want to put everything I can into the job.’’
Thomson’s due date coincides with a break in council meetings midway through the year, so she does not expect her maternity leave to cause any major hiccups.
As deputy of the environment committee, Thomson is readying herself for a big first year in local politics. Her focuses remain on connecting walking and biking networks and delving into the city’s climate change plans.
She hopes she will be able to bring a new perspective to meetings, as a mother of a young child.
The current biking and walking infrastructure throughout the city is ‘‘nerveracking’’, particularly for parents with prams or young children in tow.
And with her baby about to grace the world, the environment has never felt so important.
‘‘This, I guess, is giving me more meaning to [climate change]. It is even more urgent.’’