Selwyn MP Nicola Grigg having a baby

Tuesday, 3 October 2023

Selwyn MP Nicola Grigg and her long-term partner are expecting a baby boy in December.

Selwyn MP Nicola Grigg intends to juggle her electorate role with parenthood when Parliament resumes in the new year, but says she will not rush back to Wellington “too quickly”.

The National Party MP (Selwyn is a safe blue electorate seat and Grigg is 19th on National’s list) revealed she was six-and-a-half months’ pregnant while in Rolleston on Tuesday talking about National’s new health policy, which would extend free postnatal stays for all mothers of newborn babies to three days.

Grigg, who is due to have a baby boy in late December, said it was the top issue raised with her by mothers and she felt the move would give women choice and security in what could be a challenging time.

Grigg, who lives in Prebbleton with her long-term partner, told The Press the due date was good timing as Parliament would not be sitting when the boy was born, and she’d intended to take most of January off anyway.

“Depending on the baby, I will get back to work as soon as I can… [but] I obviously want to give him the best start I can, so I won’t be jumping on a plane to Wellington too quickly.”

Grigg, right, has announced she is pregnant.

While she anticipated some of her portfolios - which include food safety, biosecurity, associate agriculture, rural communities and women - may be reallocated, that was a conversation she was yet to have with National Party leader Christopher Luxon.

However, she would not take leave as Selwyn MP and would be as accessible to her office team and constituents as possible.

She had been inspired by other MPs who’d had babies and seemed to have “managed the juggle”.

Labour MP Camilla Belich had even given her a baby bouncer. “It’s probably one of the non-partisan areas of Parliament.”

National has not had a baby in Government since 1982, when Ruth Richardson, also Selwyn MP, gave birth.

“Now I’m friends with her daughter,” Grigg said.

National’s health initiatives announced on Tuesday also included free continuous glucose monitors for children with type 1 diabetes, and more training places for psychiatrists and clinical psychologists.

Parliament has become ever more family friendly.

Jacinda Ardern was the first New Zealand prime minister to give birth while in office in 2018.

Former National MP Katherine Rich fed her baby Georgia in the House in 2002 (when National was in Opposition).

A special room near the chamber was established in the 1983 to allow women to breastfeed, thanks to Richardson. In the 1990s, Parliament established a childcare centre.