The New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that she is pregnant.
She is now set to become one of the very few elected world leaders to have given birth while in office.
The Labour leader, who became the country's younger leader after being sworn in last October, announced via an Instagram post that she and her partner Clarke Gayford are expecting, with the baby due in June.
She wrote: "We’ll be joining the many parents out there who wear two hats. I’ll be Prime Minister AND a mum, and Clarke will be “first man of fishing” and stay at home dad.
"I think it’s fair to say that this will be a wee one that a village will raise, but we couldn’t be more excited."
In a press conference, she confirmed she will take six weeks of maternity leave after the baby's arrival, with the Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters set to step in during Ms Ardern's leave.
She added: "I am not the first woman to multi-task. I am not the first woman to work and have a baby. I know these are special circumstances, but there are many women who will have done this well before I have."
Two former New Zealand prime ministers and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull were among those congratulating Ms Ardern and Mr Clarke after the announcement:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wishing <a href="https://twitter.com/jacindaardern?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jacindaardern</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/NZClarke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZClarke</a> all the best as they expect their 1st child in June: a super busy year coming up & much to look forward to. Every <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/woman?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#woman</a> should have the choice of combining family & career. <a href="https://t.co/Ma6B6OGXJe">https://t.co/Ma6B6OGXJe</a></p>— Helen Clark (@HelenClarkNZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/HelenClarkNZ/status/954117595430404096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations to <a href="https://twitter.com/jacindaardern?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jacindaardern</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/NZClarke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZClarke</a>. Mary and I wish them all the best for their impending arrival.</p>— Bill English (@RtHonBEnglish) <a href="https://twitter.com/RtHonBEnglish/status/954113916753256448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations <a href="https://twitter.com/jacindaardern?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jacindaardern</a> on your wonderful news today. When we spoke this morning you sounded more excited than you did when you won the election! Lots of love and best wishes from me and Lucy and all of us across the ditch.</p>— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) <a href="https://twitter.com/TurnbullMalcolm/status/954127368255254528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Ms Ardern's announcement comes almost 30 years after former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto became the first modern head of government to give birth while in office.
