‘Welcome to our village’ says New Zealand PM to her baby daughter
● Leader thanks well-wishers ● Baby weighs in at 7.3lbs
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has given birth to a daughter and posted a message welcoming the healthy newborn “to our village”.
She is the second elected world leader to give birth while holding office.
Late prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was the first to complete the milestone, giving birth to daughter Bakhtawar in 1990.
Ms Ardern distributed a photo showing her and partner Clarke Gayford with the baby at Auckland City Hospital.
The baby girl arrived at 4:45pm local time weighing 7.3 pounds.
“Welcome to our village wee one,” Ms Ardern wrote in the caption on Instagram. “Feeling very lucky to have a healthy baby girl.”
The Prime Minister had been admitted to the Auckland hospital yesterday morning, four days after her due date.
She thanked everyone for their kindness and wishes following the birth. “We’re all doing really well,” she wrote.
In a statement, Ms Ardern also said: “I’m sure we’re going through all of the emotions new parents go through, but at the same time feeling so grateful for all the kindness and best wishes from so many people. Thank you.”
Ms 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 in an email that it was a very happy day for Ms Ardern and Mr Gayford.
She said New Zealanders had taken the news of the pregnancy in their st ride.
“This is a sign of our maturity as a country and its acceptance that combining career and family is a choice which women are free to make,” she wrote. “Let’s also celebrate Clarke as a modern man who is happy to be the full-time parent of a young child.”
The former PM said attitudes had changed since she had entered politics and that was a good thing.
“For New Zealand, these events and the way our country has greeted them will be seen as inspirational by all who advocate for gender equality and women’s empow- erment,” Ms Clark wrote. Jennifer Curtin, a professor of politics at the University of Auckland, said there was symbolic importance in Ms Ardern giving birth in that it showed political parties around the world that it was fine to have younger women as candidates.
She said women often tended to be older when they entered politics.
Ms Curtin said in other fields, women have been combining motherhood and paid work for decades, but it had only recently become more manageable thanks to paid parental leave.
Deputy prime minister Winston Peters has taken over as acting prime minister. Ms Ardern plans to take six weeks of leave before returning to work.
Under the arrangement, Ms Ardern will still be consulted on major decisions, including issues of national security.