New Zealand Politician Bikes to Hospital to Give Birth

[NJCher]

Oh, those down to earth women politicians from New Zealand!

snip

Pregnant New Zealand politician, 41, goes into labour so hops on her BIKE to hospital to give birth

A New Zealand politician cycled herself to hospital while in labour gave birth to her child just an hour later.

New Zealand Member of Parliament, Julie Anne Genter, 41, got on her bicycle early on Sunday morning to head to the hospital in Wellington.

Already in labour, she gave birth just an hour later at 3.04am.



Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter rides a bicyle to the hospital while in labour, in Wellington, New Zealand

snip

Terrific pics at the link, including the baby, Mom riding her bike to the hospital, and her good looking partner.

https://washingtondailies.com/us-news/pregnant-new-zealand-politician-41-goes-into-labour-so-hops-on-her-bike-to-hospital-to-give-birth/

Note: she is originally from Minnesota!

[secondwind]

1. Some story........... thankfully it had a happy ending.

[Renew Deal]

2. It's not down to earth, it's weird.

There is nothing down to earth about biking to a hospital while in labor. And doing it to make a political point is irresponsible.

[NJCher]

3. I wouldn't know

Since I am a cat mom.

However, if you look at the pics, everything turned out fine.

I'm doubtful she did it to make a political point. The political game is different there than it is here. She probably did it because she had no choice and, if you read the article, this isn't the first time she's done it. Therefore she knew her limits.

[BlackSkimmer]

4. Well, someone took the pic.

Since it was the very early morning hours, it seems unlikely it was just a passerby.

[NJCher]

8. might be a traffic cam

looks like it to me, but I don't know if they monitor traffic in New Zealand like that. I know in certain parts of NY they have in the past.

[Chellee]

9. Probably her partner.

"‘My contractions weren’t that bad when we left at 2am 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."

[Renew Deal]

6. Having a kid in a taxi works out fine too.

But it’s less than ideal. It usually happens because of things the mother can’t control. In this case, it appears that the person could control the situation and made an irresponsible decision. I’m not even saying that she has to have a kid at a hospital. Giving birth at home would be better than this.

[LeftInTX]

14. She was on her bike for only 10 minutes

I went to aerobics while I was in labor, then went to the grocery store. A few hours later, we got in the car and dove 10 minutes t the hospital. It was my third child.


If you look at from the way you are wording it, any car ride to a hospital could result in a baby being born in car. However, it rarely happens.

Exercise, as tolerated, is often recommended for moms in labor.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. There's nothing weird about biking to the hospital, either.

Why do you think it’s irresponsible? And what’s the “political point” she was making?

[LeftInTX]

5. I purposely went to aerobics class while I was in labor, then went to the grocery store

I have long, difficult labors and I was trying to speed up the process..

It was my third child.

It was also my birthday and since I was in labor, I really wanted baby on my b-day.

I came home from my errands around 7 pm. Then we had a small birthday party for me. It was just my husband, in laws and my kids. In-laws stayed to watch our kids.

We took off around 10 pm and I had my baby around 1 am...(No birthday baby, but I tried)

[NJCher]

7. aww, one hour off!

[LeftInTX]

11. I tried..LOL

Considering that I had long labors, I think I did pretty good!

Labor started around 2 PM and had to pick up my oldest from school.


I think the aerobics class was either 4 or 5 ish...Brought my kids with me and the whole bit. Labor still wasn't hard enough afterward, so I went to the store. I got a strong contraction while standing in the check out, so when I got home, I said, "It's on"..LOL

[milestogo]

10. Sounds like a Sarah Palin story.

[MissMillie]

13. People were around to take pictures, but they couldn't giver her a ride? (n/t)

.

[LeftInTX]

16. She rode on purpose. Exercise is actually good for labor.

Kinda like when you exercise after eating a big meal...I think you get the idea..LOL

Her bike ride was only 10 minutes. I'm sure if necessary, she could have flagged EMS. Bodies are weird and they will kinda pause labor a bit during exercise, then resume with greater intensity with relaxing. Gravity helps bring the baby down.

[MuseRider]

15. Wow

I am glad I did not try something like that. 2 births with a total of both labors added together of 2 hours and 10 minutes in labor. I was apparently built to give birth.

I really do not know what to think of this. To each their own? Was there a point to be made? I did not read any more so my bad, just not really interested if there was a point. It somehow does not seem in the best interest of the child but then we used to have to work until the baby dropped then you latched it to you breast and finished picking whatever.

[NJCher]

17. point

If there's a point, I'd say that it's that the women are people first, women second. Recall how their Prime Minister brought her three-month old to a UN meeting because she was breast feeding? That's not to say that she did it in the meeting, but hey, no big deal, that's just the way it is. She showed she was going about business and being a mother.

The PM also took maternity leave while in office. Well, just guess what happened when Pete Buttigieg did that.

[NJCher]

18. and I'd also add

that French women don't define themselves by their maternal status. They carry on with their careers, they've always had good day care, and it's a totally different situation that allows them to define themselves as persons, not necessarily by "grandmother" or "mother."

In the same way, these women carry on regardless of parental status. That's the way it should be, IMO. The problem is that here we don't have the support for parents that allows them to carry on with their job or professional responsibilities in addition to being a parent.