Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in labour
- Publish Date
- Thursday, 21 June 2018, 6:43AM
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has gone into labour with her soon-to-be first child.
The Prime Minister's Office has confirmed Ardern has arrived at Auckland City Hospital, with her partner Clarke Gayford, to have her baby.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is now Acting Prime Minister.
There will be no further formal announcements from the Prime Minister's office until Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford announce the birth of their baby.
The child's birth will be significant; given he or she is the first child born to a female New Zealand Prime Minister, in power, in our country's history.
Although this is a first for New Zealand, Ardern is not the first woman in power in recent times to give birth while running a country.
Former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto gave birth to daughter Bakhtawar on January 25, 1990, while she was in office.
Bhutto also had an older daughter two years earlier just a few weeks before she took office in December 1988.
Queen Elizabeth II was also very much on the throne when she gave birth to sons Prince Andrew and Prince Edward after her coronation in 1952.
Her other children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, were almost 4 and 2, respectively, at the time.
Before her, the Queen's great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, gave birth to nine children during her reign in the 1800s.
In mid-January, Ardern shocked the country when she announced, via social media, that she was expecting.
"We thought 2017 was a big year. This year, we'll join the many parents who wear two hats. I'll be PM & a mum while Clarke will 'first man of fishing' & stay-at-home dad," the couple announced.
"There will be lots of questions (I can assure you we have a plan all ready to go) but for now bring on 2018.''
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