Pregnant Prime Minister

Actually she only had 2 of her 4 children while “ruling” and given there was a government in place it was a figurehead role.
Benazir Bhutto would be a far better example. Though both her terms were marred by corruption allegations, there is nothing that indicates her two stints of Prime Minister of Pakistan were in any way hampered by her giving birth during the her campaign and again during her first term in office. Remarkably, women are just as capable of managing a career while having young children as men are, and under most circumstances and with decent healthcare, childbirth does not incapacitate them in any particularly meaningful way.
 
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Barring any complications, this should be just be a small bump in the road.

My 4 pregnancies, childbirth and time after birth were quite easy. I took 6 weeks off with the first 2 and barely 2 weeks off with the last 2. I was not incapacitated at all, maybe sleep deprived, but not incapacitated.

For the first 2, I worked full time in banking and 6 weeks was standard maternity leave 20 and 23 years ago. For the second 2, I worked part time at church. Brought the babies with me when I had to go in and did much at home.

The Pms partner and baby's father will be the primary caregiver. Win/win. She' s taking 6 weeks off. With today's communication, off really won't be off. If she's smart enough to be PM, she can figure it out.
 
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The deputy. A very unpopular politician.

Men don’t carry children-there is no risk of them being put on bed rest or having other complications that affect their ability to fulfill their role.

I was on bed rest. I just worked from home. It certainly didn't affect my brain. I'm sure she'll be able to carry out her duties without a problem. Male leaders occasionally have health problems that keep them out-of-action for a while too. No one thinks they should resign.
 
The deputy. A very unpopular politician.

Was he voted in or was he appointed? Not sure how it all works with a deputy PM.


Men don’t carry children-there is no risk of them being put on bed rest or having other complications that affect their ability to fulfill their role.

But there are risks for men as well. They could develop cancer, have a stroke, get hit by a car and go in to a coma............
 
Remember that US President who hid the fact that he was in a wheelchair?

Boy, he never got anything done!

Not getting the connection. Of course US presidents have had medical conditions during their time in office, some of which required the VP to take over for short periods of time.

I know a woman that was in labor for 5 days. She was at home trying to survive, not clocking in at work. I had hypermesis gradvium my entire pregnancy, though worse in the first two trimesters. I had days (weeks) where I was crippled by lack of proper nutrients and water, exhausted from my body throwing up constantly, and trying to just endure the unending nausea. Hey, those are extremes, but they would definitely affect someone’s ability to work. Medical conditions can arise from pregnancy. It is different when a man is expecting vs. a woman, the man isn’t going to have medical complications from his wife’s pregnancy.

If a country elects a child bearing age couple, they shouldn’t be shocked if they get pregnant.

Edit: When you find out your leader has a medical condition (temporary in this case), it’s not crazy to wonder how it will be handled. Hopefully, she will have an uneventful pregnancy and it will be a non-issue.
 
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The deputy. A very unpopular politician.

Would it be acceptable for the PM to be pregnant if she had a "very popular" deputy?

Men don’t carry children-there is no risk of them being put on bed rest or having other complications that affect their ability to fulfill their role.

Men don't have the potential to have health issues necessitating bed rest or other complications affecting their ability to fulfill their role? In the U.S. I can think of several presidents who had major health issues during their terms in office, some of which kept them in bed for extended amounts of time -- including the one who had the most terms of any U.S. Presidents.
 
You do realize that sometimes pregnancy is unplanned, even in happily married couples. Are you suggesting that women of childbearing age should never hold public office because of the chance of pregnancy?
 
This is interesting. While I agree that women can be pregnant and do practically anything and everything, the timing does seem a bit convenient. I don't follow NZ politics, but I remember this being an argument against her when she was running. Seems this may be a point to say "See, I told you suckers I could be pregnant and be Prime Minister...hahaha". Especially since it's only a few months after her election win. Perhaps if this news came a year or two after the election, it would seem less like making a statement.

Or maybe the baby wasn't planned and she isn't trying to make a statement. Or maybe she didn't realize/care about the optics of becoming pregnant only 3 months after taking the job. Who knows!

If this were a regular office job, I don't think any boss would be too happy that one of their employees was already planning on taking a month and a half off of work after only a few months on the job. Is it legal to discriminate in any form against pregnant women for this reason? Absolutely not. However, it does put the rest of the company in a harder place (marginally to greatly) because one of the members of the team is absent. Same goes for government.

Either way, congratulations to them. A baby is a blessing no matter what.
 
I think it's up to her.

I wouldn't have been good at running a country with a new baby at home (#completelyexhausted :faint:) - but I'm assuming she's arranged for someone else to take care of the baby so she can.

As for medical emergencies, those can happen to men too. As long as there is a procedure in place for someone to take over if necessary, it's no different than a male leader having surgery or something.

It's true that leadership isn't a "normal" job. I think most leaders sacrifice a lot of family time in the name of service to their countries. It's a hard choice to make! - But women should have just as much right to make it as men do.

Besides that, how long is the PM's term in NZ? She's going to be in office for a few years, right? Her child, hopefully, will be part of her life for many more! I wouldn't expect her to give up the chance of having a family for a "temporary" job. (I'm assuming, based on age, that maybe she couldn't just put off having a baby until after her term even if she wanted to.) I think having the deputy take over for a few weeks will seem small in the long run.
 
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