Nesting With Neve Jacinda's Bundle Of Joy

- Sido Kitchin

Returning to the workforce for new mothers is always an emotional time, and it’s no different for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Speaking to Woman’s Day from her Auckland home on her first day back in the leadership role after six weeks maternity leave, Jacinda, 38, admits she has mixed emotions knowing the precious period she’s had off work and completely devoted to nesting with baby Neve has come to an end. She doesn’t want to pretend it’s easy for a second.

“I’m looking forward to being back and doing a job that I love, but equally I know I’ll miss having all that time with her. It’s been lovely,” she smiles as she relaxes in the sitting room of the Sandringham bungalow she’s recently bought with partner Clarke Gayford, 40.

“I feel ready to go back, but I’m not going to gloss over it. There are going to be moments – oh gosh, there will be.”

Nearby, Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford sleeps peacefully in a quiet corner of the house, the only clues she’s there are the bottles and breast pump on the bench, baskets of toys and a cloth for spills on the sill.

“It’s been the fastest six weeks of my life – it’s just flown by,” says Jacinda. “And yet when I look back on the first photos when Neve arrived and see just how much she’s grown, it also seems like it has to have been forever.”

It was June 21 when the arrival of this little cherub at Auckland City Hospital marked an historic moment that made headlines worldwide. Only once before had a world leader given birth while in office, and that woman was the late Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto, who coincidentally, Jacinda points out, shared the same birthday as Neve.