The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, gave birth to a baby girl at 4.45pm this afternoon. The baby weighed 3.31kg. That is all we know at the moment. Jacinda and her partner, Clarke Gayford, arrived at Auckland public hospital around 6am so it was a long day for them. However, we have seen the three of them in a photo she posted on Instagram. It was hard to see much of the baby. She was wrapped in a white woolen shawl and wearing a white bonnet. You could see only one eye and her fingers were wrapped around Jacinda’s finger. Jacinda and Clarke, however, were both smiling and appeared very happy.
Jacinda and Clarke said they were all doing well. They thanked the hospital team. The Prime Minister was one of about 20 women giving birth today at Auckland hospital. However, this is a special birth as Jacinda Ardern is only the second Prime Minister in the world to give birth. The first was Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan in 1990.
Mother and baby will probably stay in hospital overnight and go home tomorrow. By that time, she will probably have received many messages of congratulations from around the world, as well as cards and flowers.
Vocabulary
shawl – a square or triangle shape to wrap the baby