In many instances, if a person in labour is rushed to hospital, it’s usually in a four-wheeled vehicle – be it their own car or an ambulance.
But for one New Zealand politician who proudly proclaims “I love my bicycle”Her Facebook page reveals that it was pedal power that helped her give birth on Saturday to her second child.
Green MP Julie Anne Genter, from Wellington, 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 2am to go to the hospital – though they were 2-3 minutes apart and picking up in intensity by the time we arrived 10 minutes later.
“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,”She spoke.
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It wasn’t the first time Genter cycled to hospital to give birth. In 2018, while she was pregnant with her first child, she and her partner decided to ride the bike. “because there wasn’t enough room in the car for the support crew”.
The ride to the hospital for induction was probably a bit easier.
“Beautiful Sunday morning for a bike ride, to the hospital, for an induction to finally have this baby,”ShePosted on Instagramat the time.
After her announcement, she has been receiving well wishes on social media.
Marama Davidson was a fellow MP. “So happy for you all. Aunty Marama can’t wait to hug (when it’s very safe so not for a while). Congratulations everyone!”
“Congratulations! This is lovely news, Julie Anne,”One other comment.
One third said that she hoped she was a joker. “had the bike on turbo the whole way”Genter responded that, thankfully. “it was mostly coasting downhill”.
“It was a lovely night. I did use turbo to get up the short hill from our house,”She added.
Good to know that while the pregnancy was laborious, the bike ride to the hospital certainly wasn’t.