Politics

Jacinda Ardern in labour, admitted to hospital for birth of first child

Jun 21, 2018

Jacinda Ardern is in labour with her first child. Source: Getty

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is in labour and has been admitted to hospital for the birth of her fist child.

Ardern’s office released a statement early Thursday morning, saying she was in hospital in Auckland, according to multiple media reports.

The 37-year-old leader announced she was pregnant in January, just months after she’d taken office as the country’s third female prime minister.

At the time, she and her partner Clarke Gayford said they found out about the pregnancy just one week before Ardern’s Labour Party formed government and that it came as a surprise to them both as they believed they would not be able to conceive naturally.

“We had been told that it was unlikely that we would be able to have a family without help,” Ms Ardern told Sky News.

“It was a week before (Deputy Prime Minister) Winston Peters made his decision about how to form a coalition government….so it’s been a long time to carry that secret.”

Ardern is one of the few female leaders to give birth while holding office – the most recent being former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto, who had her daughter in 1990.

Ardern’s pregnancy drew the ire of some New Zealand conservatives over the past few months, who said she should have stepped aside when she found out she was pregnant. However, she has maintained strong support from within her own party and many National Party members across the aisle, as well as the voting public.

Ardern’s deputy Winston Peters is now acting prime minister and will run the country for six week while’s she’s on maternity leave. After that, she will return to work and Gayford, who is a presenter on a TV fishing show, will take on the majority of the parenting load.

The couple said in January that Gayford will be “first man of fishing” and stay-at-home dad, while Ardern gets on with the job of running the country.

“Clarke and I are privileged to be in the position where Clarke can stay home to be our primary caregiver. Knowing that so many parents juggle the care of their new babies, we consider ourselves to be very lucky,” Ardern said at the time. “We consider ourselves lucky for another reason. Clarke and I have always been clear we wanted to be parents but had been told we would need help for that to happen. That’s made this news a fantastic surprise.”