PM arrives at hospital to have baby

Author: Newstalk ZB Staff ,
Publish Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2018, 6:16AM

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in labour and has been admitted to Auckland City Hospital.

The Prime Minister's Office has confirmed Ardern, 37, arrived hospital, with her partner Clarke Gayford, at 5.50am.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is now Acting Prime Minister.

Ardern's arrival has sent ripples of excitement around the hospital.

A doctor who works there says she heard about Ardern going into hospital on the radio.

She says she's excited for the Prime Minister and hopes she gets out of hospital soon.

A nurse who had just finished a night shift thought it was interesting that the Prime Minister was giving birth at the hospital amid all the controversy of industrial action.

She says it's exciting all the same and is wishing Ardern all the best.

Another man, who arrived at the hospital to visit a sick grandchild, said he was excited to know if Ardern would have a boy or a girl and wished her well.

There will be no further formal announcements from the Prime Minister's office until Ardern and Gayford, 40, announce the birth of their baby.

To @jacindaardern & @NZClarke. Best wishes from all your @nzlabour colleagues. Becoming a parent is the best moment in your life 👶🏻 pic.twitter.com/Tgmu3Xe4ZC
— Kelvin Davis (@NgatiBird) June 20, 2018

If born today Ardern and Gayford's baby would share a birthday with Prince William (who the couple met in Britain earlier this year), actor Chris Pratt and singer Lana Del Rey. Their star sign is Cancer.

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.

As coincidence would have it today is Bhutto's 55th birthday.

Famous people born on June 21

Prince William, 1982
Joko Widodo, Indonesia president, 1961
Lana Del Rey, musician - June 21, 1985
Edward Snowden, NSA whistleblower, 1983
Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher, 1905
Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistan prime minister and first female leader of a Muslim nation (also the first head of government to give birth while in office), 1953
Shirin Ebadi, Iranian lawyer and human rights activist and first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (2003), 1947

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.

Green Party sends best wishes

The Green Party's co-leaders have sent their best wishes to Ardern and Gayford

"I am thinking of Jacinda with so much excitement as she approaches giving birth for the first time," co-leader Marama Davidson said.

"Her and Clarke have my best wishes for this special experience.

"This is an exciting time for Jacinda and Clarke and an historic moment for our country," says James Shaw in reference to the fact that this will be the first time a Prime Minister in New Zealand has had a baby while in power.

"I join with Marama and our Green Party caucus colleagues in wishing them both all the best."

How the baby news was announced

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.''

She accompanied the message - on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - with a photo of two large fish hooks and a smaller one within one of them; signifying the growing family while also paying tribute to Gayford's love for fishing.

It was also a nice touch given the significance of the hook in Māori culture.

It was later revealed she planned to take six weeks off after the birth - of which a due date of June 17 was given.

There was great support from the New Zealand public, political colleagues and from fans around the world.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was one of the first international leaders to tweet about the news.

"Congratulations Jacinda Ardern on your wonderful news today. When we spoke this morning you sounded more excited than you did when you won the election!"

Former New Zealand prime ministers also came out in support, with both Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark offering congratulatory messages.

Some eagle-eyed Kiwis were quick to point out that now meant Clark was very much the real "aunty Helen".

Ardern has been well received at public events during her pregnancy and has travelled and appeared at many engagements over the past few months.

Her trip to Waitangi, in the lead-up to Waitangi Day, was widely regarded as one of the best appearances of any New Zealand leader in history.

She became the first female prime minister to speak at the upper marae and many remembered her walking around in barefoot and helping to serve the public a hearty breakfast alongside her Labour Party colleagues.

She toured the Pacific this year and later Europe, where she and Gayford met the Queen.

Ardern appeared in Vogue Magazine in February, in which she was referred to as the "Anti-Trump".

She spoke about her pregnancy in that article and also appeared on 60 Minutes Australiain an episode dubbed The Kiwi That Soared.