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New Zealand MP cycles to the hospital while in labour, gives birth an hour later

'I genuinely wasn’t planning to cycle in labour, but it did end up happening'

Julie Anne Genter | Facebook

New Zealand MP from Greens Party, Julie Anne Genter cycled to the hospital and gave birth an hour later. Genter was already in labour. She had done the same thing during the birth of her first child, a son.

The US-born New Zealand national wrote on Facebook: “Big news! At 3.04am this morning we welcomed the newest member of our family. I genuinely wasn’t planning to cycle in labour, but it did end up happening. My contractions weren’t that bad when we left at 2 am 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. (I’m smiling in the car park right after one.) And amazingly now we have a healthy, happy little one sleeping, as is her dad. Feeling blessed to have had excellent care and support from a great team, in what turned out to be a very fast (and happily uncomplicated) birth.”

Netizens wished the MP well. Some of them commented that cycling during labour probably helped the process. 'You're a force of nature,' wrote one well-wisher. 'Congratulations! That's an amazing birth tale,' wrote another user. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern famously brought her three-month-old to a United Nations meeting as she was still breastfeeding.