Former prime minister Helen Clark has been quick tonight with an opinion piece for Britain's The Guardian, writing that New Zealand is breaking new ground with a prime minister giving birth and her partner becoming a stay-at-home father.
In a column headlined 'Jacinda Ardern shows that no doors are closed to women' and published online tonight, Ms Clark writes that the birth of Jacinda Ardern's baby daughter "is first and foremost a time of great happiness for Jacinda and her partner, Clarke Gayford".
But she says for the public in New Zealand and beyond, the new arrival in our country's first family also has considerable significance.
"Ardern becomes only the second serving second prime minister in history to give birth. As well, she is not married to her partner," Ms Clark notes.
"Conventional wisdom may have said that this combination of factors would not have been helpful to a political career at the highest level. Fortunately, that has proved to be wrong."
Ms Clark says Ms Ardern's pregnancy came as a surprise to her and Mr Gayford, but they took it in their stride.
"Arrangements were made for Ardern to work until very close to the birth, and then for the deputy prime minister to act in her place while she takes some six weeks maternity leave - although no one really believes that Ardern will be far from her phone! After that, Gayford takes over as primary carer for the foreseeable future," she writes.
"These are the kinds of practical arrangements working women make the world over - the novelty here is that it is a prime minister who is making them. The signal this sends, however, is that this is life in the 21st century. Women can choose to combine family and career as Ardern has done.
"For young women, the example Ardern is setting is an affirmation that they too can expect to have that choice. For young men, Gayford being the full time carer of a baby sends a powerful message that they too can exercise that choice," writes Ms Clark who was New Zealand's prime minister from 1999 to 2008.
Ms Clark writes: "In a world where there are still glass ceilings to be smashed and where many countries continue to have laws, policies, and practices that discriminate against women, the message from New Zealand is one of hope - that women can break through all barriers and do it in their own way as Ardern has done.
"I hope that New Zealand will continue to be a leader in the full inclusion of women in all spheres of its society - and I expect it will be," the former PM concludes.
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