PM WELCOMES DAUGHTER ‘TO OUR VILLAGE’
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave birth to a daughter Thursday and posted a message welcoming the healthy newborn “to our village.”
She is the second elected world leader to give birth while holding office after late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who gave birth to daughter Bakhtawar in 1990.
Ardern distributed a photo showing her and partner Clarke Gayford with the baby at Auckland City Hospital. The girl arrived at 4:45 p.m. weighing 3.3 kilograms.
“Welcome to our village wee one,” Ardern wrote in the caption on Instagram. “Feeling very lucky to have a healthy baby girl.”
She thanked everyone for their kindness and wishes. “We’re all doing really well,” she wrote.
Ardern’s pregnancy has been followed around the world, with many hoping the 37-year-old will become a role model for combining motherhood with political leadership.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said it was a very happy day for Ardern and Gayford and that New Zealanders had taken the news of the pregnancy in their stride.