Last week, New Zealand’s Prime Minster, Jacinda Ardern, announced that she and her partner, Clarke, are expecting a baby in June.
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 be “first man of fishing” & stay at home dad. There will be lots of questions (I can assure you we have a plan all ready to go!) but for now bring on 2018 pic.twitter.com/nowAYOhAbF
— Jacinda Ardern (@jacindaardern) January 18, 2018
Congratulations
The announcement, whilst completely out of the blue for anyone not in Jacinda and Clarke’s inner circle, was greeted with congratulations from around the world. It also prompted a lot of discussion around the role of motherhood and the pressures of being a working mum.
“Jacinda Ardern is capable of being our Prime Minister and a mother, and it will add insight and joy to her work and we should celebrate that,” former prime minister Dame Jenny Shipley said.
Wishing @jacindaardern & @NZClarke all the best as they expect their 1st child in June: a super busy year coming up & much to look forward to. Every #woman should have the choice of combining family & career. https://t.co/Ma6B6OGXJe
— Helen Clark (@HelenClarkNZ) January 18, 2018
The Prime Minister became aware of the pregnancy during coalition talks after the election.
Not the first
Jacinda is set to join a select group of world leaders who have welcomed a new baby into their family during their tenure. Even more so, only one other female leader in modern history has given birth whilst in power. In 1990, Benazir Bhutto, gave birth to a daughter whilst Prime Minster of Pakistan. She had also previously given birth while campaigning in 1988. The existing President called for a democratic election after learning that she was pregnant, reportedly to plot her downfall. In his mind, a pregnant woman couldn’t possibly campaign, let alone win – which she did.
Thankfully the political climate in New Zealand is definitely more baby-friendly. Speaker of the house, Trevor Mallard, has been known to take care of legislators’ babies during parliamentary debates.
Jacinda plans to take 6 weeks of maternity leave after the birth of the baby, with her partner Clarke taking on the primary caregiver role after her return to work.
16 May, 2026
I think its fantastic. I can’t wait to watch her belly grow and I think it is going to do a lot for those Dads that are raising their kids. This isn’t the first time its happened before but does not seem to be as accepted as I had thought.
So happy for Jacinda and Clarke! She is showing the people of the world that New Zealand is amazing and progressive in a world of trump, Putin and Kim Jong un and their circuses going on. When I had my first baby I went back to work when he was 10 weeks old my partner became a stay at home dad. So when I’m looking at this it’s normal to me. Proud to be a kiwi and can’t wait to see baby when it’s born.
I too was thrilled. She is already an advocate for so many, for her to go through this process while being in a position to be able to effect positive change and changing attitudes is awesome. We need more focus on maternity care, early childhood, working mothers, etc etc. She seems to be very practical, and she has a great support system in place. There’s no reason to worry about the country, she has it in hand. She will smash this out of the park.
I think that this is awesome news and they will be great role models not only for working mums but stay at home dads as well.
Whwn I heard this news it just made this already incredible woman evwn more amazing to me, she is incredibly inspiring and really does stand for progressive womandom in our country. It will be interesting to see if 6 weeks ends up being enough for her though as we all know as mum’s… Best laid plans… I don’t believe she will necessarily stand down but it wouldn’t surprise me if she took an extra 4 or so weeks on top of the 6…and so she should too if she wants. I also can’t wait to see if she will breastfeed feed whilst in parliament Chambers etc would be so amazing if does and really shows the world and those who are u comfortable with such a normal wonderful thing… That it is just that Normal and wonderful not gross and sexual
I think it’s great news and also that Clark can be the primary caregiver when Jacinda goes back to work after the initial 6 weeks leave. It will be hard at times for her to do this too as we all know parenting has it’s difficult times.
I think this is fantastic news for this couple and for our country! Great to see the stay-at-dad role being promoted and highlighted. So many dads do such a fantastic job at home with their kids 🙂
I loved their announcement photo – such a sweet way to announce! And I’m happy for them, I think it’s wonderful that Clark will be able to be a stay at home Dad.
Im stoked for them! Im sure its going to be difficult and there will be issues with it, but that is the same for every family… you just have to roll with it and do the best you can. I think that they will be fantastic parents and Jacinda will continue to be very effective in her position!
Good for them – they are bringing a life into the world and I’m sure the little person will be loved and looked after. Cool to hear that Clark is going to be Stay-at-home Dad too, not enough Dad’s have the privilege of having that role (my hubby has been stay-at-home Dad to our now 5 year old since she was 6 months old 🙂