New Zealand MP Cycles to Hospital to Give Birth

Julie Anne Genter, a New Zealand MP, rode her bicycle to the hospital early on Sunday. She was already in labour, and an hour later she gave birth, according to the Guardian.

A few hours later, the Greens MP commented on her Facebook page, "Big news!" "We welcomed the newest member of our family at 3.04 a.m. this morning. I had no intention of cycling throughout labour, but that turned out to be the case."

The 5 million-strong island nation is known for its down-to-earth politicians. While in office, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern notably took maternity leave and brought her three-month-old daughter to a UN meeting while still breastfeeding.

Julie Anne Genter, a member of the New Zealand Green Party and a minister for women, rode to the hospital to give birth.

Genter writes, "My contractions weren't that bad when we left at 2 a.m. to go to the hospital — however they were 2-3 minutes apart and picked up in severity by the time we arrived 10 minutes later."

"Amazingly, we now have a healthy, happy little one sleeping, as is her father," said Genter, who was born in Minnesota and relocated to New Zealand in 2006.

Genter, who is the party's transportation spokeswoman and whose Facebook page contains the phrase "I adore my bicycle," also rode her bike to the hospital in 2018 to give birth to her first child.

"Beautiful Sunday morning for a bike ride, to the hospital, for an induction to finally deliver this kid," Genter said at the time on Instagram, alongside photographs of herself riding her bike at 42 weeks pregnant, with the hashtag #bicyclesarethebest.