INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ardern and Benazir Bhutto: Two leaders, two very different pregnanciesAuckland: Instagram posts, national
earlier by Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the only other world leader to have given birth while in office
The intervening months have seen a frenzy of excitement from New Zealanders, many of whom took to the web on Thursday to express their
happiness.Twitter user @zaichishka, who describes herself as a Welsh-Kiwi, wrote: "4.693 million New Zealanders (give or take) just became
aunts and uncles."It was all a far cry from 1990, when Bhutto, the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim-majority nation,
told almost no-one she was pregnant until Bakhtawar was born on January 25."None of us in the cabinet virtually knew that this prime
minister was about to deliver a baby," Javed Jabbar, a member of her cabinet, told the BBC recently."And then lo-and-behold suddenly we
Bhutto "greedy" for wanting to have "motherhood, domesticity, glamour, and whole responsibility" rather than make sacrifices for her
country.News that Ardern was expecting prompted then New Zealand opposition leader Bill English to send his congratulations and hope that
she was given "the space to be able to conduct relatively normal family life".He said Ardern should be allowed to acclimatise to motherhood
and not be held to higher standards because she was prime minister."It is an incredible privilege to be a parent
A new child will bring real joy to their lives
deputy Winston Peters assuming the reins, although she will remain on call for any matters of significance.In contrast, Bhutto, fearing she
was in danger of being overthrown, travelled incognito to a Karachi hospital, underwent a Caesarean section, then returned to work."The next
day I was back on the job, reading government papers and signing government files," she later wrote."Only later did I learn that I was the
only head of government in recorded history actually to give birth while in office."It was a defining moment, especially for young women,
proving that a woman could work and have a baby in the highest and most challenging leadership positions."Bhutto, however, was dismissed
from office eight months later
She returned as prime minister from 1993 to 1996 and was assassinated in 2007.Had she lived, Thursday would have been her birthday.James
Zealand and choose to have a family while in office says a lot about the kind of country we are and that we can be -- modern, progressive,
inclusive, and equal," Shaw said.
