In labor, a New Zealand parliamentarian rides to hospital to give birth

New Zealand Member of Parliament Julie Anne Genter cycled to the hospital in labor this Sunday (28) and gave birth an hour later.

“Good news!” the policy posted on their Facebook page a few hours later. “At 3:04 am this morning we welcomed the newest member of our family. I didn’t really plan on cycling in labor, but it ended up happening.”

The nation of 5 million people already has a reputation as down-to-earth politicians. Famous Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took maternity leave while in office and took her three-month-old son to a United Nations meeting as she was still breastfeeding.

“My contractions were going well when we left at 2 am to go to the hospital – although they were between 2-3 minutes and increasing in intensity when we arrived 10 minutes later,” wrote Genter.

“Surprisingly, we now have a healthy, happy sleeping child, just like her father,” said Genter, a New Zealand citizen, who was born in Minnesota and moved to the Pacific in 2006.

Genter – who is her party’s spokeswoman for transport issues – also cycled to the hospital in 2018 to give birth to her first child, local media said.

(Text translated, read original in English here)