New Zealand’s prime minister is pregnant. In 2018, that’s still a huge deal. 
 
 Jacinda Ardern, who became prime minister in October, announced today (Jan. 19) that she’ll give birth to her first child in June. She’ll be the first leader to have a child while in power since Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 1990. 
 
 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 
 
 Benazir Bhutto holds her daughter Bakhtwar in Karachi, May 6, 1991. (AP) 
 
 Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2008, gave birth to her daughter Bakhtawar in January 1990 when she was prime minister. She also gave birth while she was campaigning in 1988. She told the BBC that her family’s long-time foe, president and military general Zia ul-Haq, called Pakistan’s first democratic election since 1977 after he learned that she was pregnant, “thinking that a pregnant woman couldn’t campaign, I could, I did and I won so that disproved that notion.” 
 
 Zia scheduled the election for mid-November of that year, the same month that Bhutto was expected to give birth. Her son Bilawal was born prematurely in September. Bhutto’s party won the election, and she became the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority country. 
 
 While Ardern made her pregnancy public through social media, Bhutto’s second pregnancy in 1990 was a much more stealthy affair. One member of her cabinet at the time, Javed Jabbar, described the pregnancy in a recent series on BBC World Service on Bhutto’s assassination: 
 
 “To carry a child to be pregnant and to keep it a secret, a super straight secret, which none of us in the cabinet virtually knew, that this prime minister was about to deliver a baby, and then lo and behold suddenly we learn, that she has not only gone and delivered democracy she’s also delivered a baby.” 
 
 Bhutto’s pregnancy was promptly criticized. Syeda Abida Hussain, the opposition leader, called Bhutto “greedy” for wanting to have “motherhood, domesticity, glamour, and whole responsibility” rather than making sacrifices for her country as demanded of a leader. 
 
 Bhutto gave birth to a third child, Aseefa, in 1993. 
 
 Ardern’s pregnancy marks the coming together of two trends: younger leaders and later childbearing. Most women leaders in the past only ascended to power in their fifties or sixties, after having had children earlier in their lives. Like Bhutto though, Ardern is in her late thirties. 
 
 In response to Ardern’s news, New Zealand politicians extended their congratulations to the prime minister, who has said that she intends to remain completely contactable while she is on her six-week maternity leave, with deputy prime minister Winston Peters standing in as interim leader. “I think it’s fair to say that this will be a wee one that a village will raise, but we couldn’t be more excited,” said the prime minister. 
 
 While New Zealand has a decidedly much more baby-friendly attitude towards its politicians—speaker of the house Trevor Mallard has taken care of legislators’ babies while they debate on the floor—women in other countries face much more hostile circumstances. In Japan, a legislator in Kumamoto prefecture, Yuka Ogata, was given an official warning for bringing her baby to a council session last year. ||||| New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford announce their pregnancy with their first child to media at press conference in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Ardern... (Associated Press) 
 
 WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand's prime minister announced on Friday that she is expecting her first child in June. 
 
 Jacinda Ardern, 37, took office in October. Speculation swirled around whether she would start a family soon when she took over the leadership of her then-opposition Labour Party last year. 
 
 Ardern took to Twitter to announce that she and her partner Clarke Gayford were expecting a child, and that Gayford would become a stay-at-home dad. 
 
 "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," she tweeted. 
 
 She said in a statement that she had asked Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters on Thursday to act as prime minister for six weeks after the birth. 
 
 "I fully intend to be contactable and available throughout the six-week period when needed," she said. "I will make arrangements for appropriate ministers to act in my other portfolios over the six weeks I am away from Parliament." 
 
 After the six weeks, she will resume all her prime ministerial duties. 
 
 "Clarke and I are privileged to be in the position where Clarke can stay home to be our primary care-giver. Knowing that so many parents juggle the care of their new babies, we consider ourselves to be very lucky," she said. 
 
 "Clarke and I have always been clear we wanted to be parents but had been told we would need help for that to happen. That's made this news a fantastic surprise," she added. 
 
 The couple discovered she was pregnant on Oct. 13 — two weeks before she was sworn in as national leader. 
 
 Within a day of Ardern becoming Labour Party leader, seven weeks before the election, she was twice asked by television hosts about her plans for children. One host, Mark Richardson, questioned whether it was acceptable for the country's leader to take maternity leave while in office, and said most employers would want to know the maternity plans of their workers. 
 
 Ardern, who has previously talked about the difficulties of juggling political life while also wanting to start a family, said she was happy to answer such questions, but others shouldn't feel compelled. 
 
 "For other women, it is totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace," she responded, while pointing her finger at Richardson. "That is unacceptable." 
 
 Her answers seemed to resonate with many people, some of whom pointed out that under New Zealand law, workplace discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is illegal. Ardern said she was surprised her comments were picked up abroad.
– New Zealand's new prime minister has a new baby on the way. Jacinda Ardern, who took office in October, says she and her partner Clarke Gayford are expecting their first child. She says Gayford will be a stay-at-home dad. "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," she tweeted Friday. In a statement, Ardern said Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will be acting prime minister while she is on leave for six weeks after the birth, the AP reports. "Clarke and I are privileged to be in the position where Clarke can stay home to be our primary care-giver. Knowing that so many parents juggle the care of their new babies, we consider ourselves to be very lucky," she said. "Clarke and I have always been clear we wanted to be parents but had been told we would need help for that to happen. That's made this news a fantastic surprise," Ardern added. She discovered she was pregnant on Oct. 13, just two weeks before she was sworn in as prime minister. The New Zealand Herald reports that the baby is due in June and couple know the baby's gender, but they are keeping that information private for now. After becoming Labour Party leader in August last year, Ardern was asked about her plans for children, and told reporters that while she would answer such questions, it is "unacceptable" to expect other women to answer them in the workplace. Ardern will be the first world leader to give birth while in office since Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto had a daughter, her second child, while prime minister in 1990, Quartz reports.