Last Sunday, New Zealand’s MP Julie Anne Genter rode her bike straight to the hospital at 2 am. The ten-minute ride was not for fun. She was in labour, pregnant with her second child.
An hour later, the Green Party politician posted on her Facebook page: “At 3:04 am this morning we welcomed the newest member of our family. I genuinely wasn’t planning to cycle in labour, but it did end up happening. My contractions weren’t that bad when we left at 2 am to go to the hospital — though they were 2-3 min apart and picking up in intensity by the time we arrived 10 minutes later.“
This is not the first time she has done this. In 2018, while pregnant with her first child, she also cycled to the hospital to give birth.
The country of 5 million people is already known for its down-to-earth politicians. In 2018 their Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took maternity leave while in office. And just the next month, she also brought her three-month-old to a UN meeting while still breastfeeding her baby.
Genter is a dual New Zealand-U.S. citizen born in Minnesota who moved to the island in 2006. Today, she’s also her party’s spokesperson for transport issues.
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