Jacinda Ardern's bundle of joy is the first baby born to a serving New Zealand Prime Minister, but many other Kiwi kids have grown up at the Beehive.

So, what can the new bub expect life to be like with a Prime Minister as a parent?

The Herald looks back at the experiences of other children who were unwittingly thrust into spotlight when their mum or dad was leader of the nation.

Max Key

Max Key, son of former Prime Minister John Key. (Photo / Instagram)

He wore an aqua polo shirt as his family celebrated the National Party's - and his dad's - victory over the Labour-Green block.

Since then Max has appeared to enjoy basking in the limelight. During the past decade Max has made headlines for everything from planking to yelling "real men ride women" at a cyclist.

But during a candid interview with Newshub late last year Max revealed spending his formative years with his dad as Prime Minister was tough.

"Every since I was a little kid I was like 'Can you come home more? I want to hang out. I want you to come to my baseball game'," he told journalist Samantha Hayes.

Max Key (left), mum Bronagh, and sister Stephie celebrate the National Party's 2008 election win with newly Prime Minister, dad and husband, John Key. (Photo / Herald)

When his dad stepped down as Prime Minister in December 2016 Max did what any other millennial would do: take to social media to pay tribute.

"Today marks the end of an era. To say that I'm proud of you would be an understatement," he said in an Instagram post.

"You're the best role model I could've asked for and my hero. Love you dad."

Stephie Key

A self portrait of artist, and former first daughter, Stephie Key. (Photo / Facebook)

Despite describing herself as "shy" and "super-private" John Key's eldest child Stephie has caused her fair share of controversy during her eight years as first daughter and year-and-a-half since her dad retired from politics.

The now-25-year-old, who sported an asymmetrical dyed blonde hairstyle when her dad rose to power and is now famous for her hot-pink locks, is an artist based in France who goes by the pseudonym Cherry Lazar.

She raised eyebrows in 2015 for exposing her body in her work, which she said explored the themes of marriage and sexuality.

Before Stephie's first solo exhibition a spokesman for the then-first daughter said her art was "no cry for attention in relation to her parents - it is simply her expressing herself and her fantasies".

The Englishs

By the time he became Prime Minister after John Key's resignation in December 2016, five of Bill English's six kids were already adults.

But they were very young when he became leader of the National Party in 2001.

The brood has been notably less vocal on social media than the Keys.

However, last Father's Day, in the lead-up to the election, English's second eldest son Tom who, like his mother, Mary, is a doctor, posted a selfie video with his dad to social media.

In the footage Tom said it was weird seeing his dad's face on billboards and buses.

"Thanks very much for everything in the first 27 years - [there's] a bit of time left to prove yourself," he added.

"I think back to when there was six of us under 12 years old and I just wonder the how the heck you guys [English and wife Mary] did it. It must have been pretty crazy."

A month earlier Tom's younger brother Bart published a poem called Ascend on pop culture and news website the Spinoff.

English's only daughter, Maria, sang the national anthem at her father's campaign launch in August 2017.

Anna Shipley

 Anna Shipley (centre) with parents Burton and Jenny Shipley at her university graduation in 1999. (Photo / File)

Like her mother, Anna has risen to the top of her field - at just 31 she was head of communications for the UK and Ireland at telecommunications giant Nokia.

In an interview with PR Week in 2009 Anna listed her parents among her mentors.

"Conversations over dinner at the Shipley household were never dull," she said.

"If anything my family has taught me to be adaptable and flexible, but also to be positive and get on with it."

She also credited her upbringing for her heightened "engagement" with the media.

Gavin Muldoon

 

Gavin Muldoon, son of the former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. in 2008. (Photo / File)

But it was only several years later - about 1967 - when Gavin Muldoon realised his dad, then Minister of Finance, had a pretty important job.

"Kids are just kids at that age, so I don't recall there being a great deal of attention," he told the Herald in an interview more than 40 years later.

"I didn't know anything different, Dad was just Dad, he would come along and watch me play rugby or cricket whenever he could.

Gavin said his father - known for being boisterous in the public eye - was relatively quiet at home.

"We'd talk about various issues of the day, whether they involved [Jack] Marshall, [David] Lange, or [Norman] Kirk, those sorts of people, but for the most part it wasn't greatly political."

Of his father's political defeat, and subsequent retirement from politics, in 1984, he said: "nothing is ever permanent in politics and we knew that".

"It was sad when he finally lost [in 1984], but he had his time. He stood for what he believed was right, made the call and lost. It was sad, disappointing, we were too close to it to see it coming, although we did believe it was going to be close."