AUCKLAND • New Zealand MP Julie Anne Genter got on her bicycle early yesterday and headed to the hospital. She was already in labour, and she gave birth to a baby girl an hour later.

"Big news!" the Greens politician posted on her Facebook page a few hours later. "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."

The island nation of five million already has a reputation for down-to-earth politicians. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern famously took maternity leave while in office and brought her three-month-old to a United Nations meeting as she was still breastfeeding.

Ms Genter wrote: "My contractions weren't that bad when we left at 2am to go to the hospital - though they were (minutes) apart and picking up in intensity by the time we arrived 10 minutes later."

Ms Genter, the Green Party's spokesman on transport issues, also cycled to the hospital in 2018 to give birth to her firstborn son, the local media said.

REUTERS