Pregnant Minister Cycles to Hospital to Give Birth to Baby
Her social media post has made headlines around the world instantly and brought the world craze at her feet.
Julie Anne Genter, New Zealand's Minister for Women has chosen to ride the cycle of life on her way to hospital to give birth to her first child. Anne Genter is a Green Member of Parliament and is a keen cyclist, and therefore she chose to pedal power for a kilometer journey from her home to Auckland City Hospital for the delivery.
She posted on social media with a picture of her along with the cycle by her side, “My partner and I cycled because there wasn't enough room in the car for the support crew... but it also put me in the best possible mood!” She is 42 weeks pregnant and went to the hospital for an induction. She also said in her post that it was "mostly downhill to the hospital. Beautiful Sunday morning for a bike ride, to the hospital, for an induction to finally have this baby”.
Anne Genter is also the Associate Transport Minister in New Zealand’s government who also advocates sustainable travel and the choice of the cycle, the eco-friendly mode of transport, goes apt with her liking.
Her social media post has made headlines around the world instantly and brought the world craze at her feet, people commenting on her social media page, complimenting and congratulating her for the step she has taken. As she also has joined a number of politicians who have had babies while in office.
Anne Genter incident came just weeks after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has returned to work after having her first child, a daughter in the month of June. Ardern, who was elected Prime Minister, last year, became the only the second world leader to give birth to a child while in office after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in 1990.
The Minister, Anne Genter and her partner had two miscarriages in the past, which she has revealed in some media interviews previously, but this time all went well and now she is expected to take three months of parental leave and will return to the Parliament by November.
In the year 1970, the first Member of Parliament from New Zealand became the first public representative to give birth, while in office, followed by another politician breastfeeding at work in 1983. In the year 2016, Australia passed a law that allows its lawmakers to breastfeed and bottle feed while they are in the chamber of the House of Representatives.