Jacinda Arden, New Zealand’s third female prime minister—who made headlines for being unmarried and pregnant, and a world leader—gave birth on Thursday. This is only the second time a head of state has given birth while in office. According to NPR, the last and first was Benazir Bhutto in 1990 as prime minister of Pakistan. The baby girl was born at 4:45 PM.
Ardern gave birth to a 7.3 pound baby in an Auckland hospital early Thursday morning, four days after her due date. She says she will take six weeks of maternity leave, during which the Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, will assume her duties. Ardern says she will continue to read Cabinet papers during her time off.
Prime Minister Arden has been quoted as saying that she is “not the first woman to multitask.” And she is definitely not the first woman to have had a child while still working a job. Congratulations, Prime Minister.