Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister, has shared a Facebook video ahead of her return to office next week following a six week maternity leave. Only the second world leader to give birth while in office, Ardern left her deputy Winston Peters in charge while she spent time with her new daughter, Neve.
In the video titled, “A quick hello as we get ready to come back,” Ardern chats candidly about her experiences as a new mother while rocking her daughter in a nearby bassinet.
“We’re all doing really well still, we have absolutely no routine to speak of. I can hear a chorus of parents laughing at the suggestion that you would ever have a routine with a five-week old baby but we’re doing really well nonetheless,” Arden said.
While discussing her change of routine post-baby, she explained how her weekly Sunday ritual of reading government papers now included rocking her newborn to sleep.
“I’m multitasking like every single parent I’ve ever met, so a big shout-out to all of them,” she said.
The Prime Minister subsequently received thousands of messages of support with Facebook commenters praising her multi-tasking and calling her a positive role model.
“Rock a cradle and run a country. Showing women can be mothers and leaders,” one wrote.
Arden also shared in her video that she would be “focused on getting straight back into it” and concentrating on the issues that “really matter” to her when she returned to work. These include mental health, the environment and trade-related matters.
Plus, she confirmed she’ll be continuing to stay in touch via social media as her return to parliament edges closer. Arden said she is planning to share “a little bit of what life will look like, because it’s obviously going to be a little bit different.”