Julie Anne Gente similarly rode herself to the hospital for the birth of her first child in 2018. Photo by Wilson Wei / EyeEm, via Getty Images
New Zealand politician Julie Anne Genter was already midway through labor by the time she climbed onto her bicycle at 2AM on Sunday. Ten minutes later she’d cycled herself to the hospital, and a little over an hour later she’d given birth.“Big news!” Genter wrote on Facebook. “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 min apart and picking up in intensity by the time we arrived 10 minutes later.“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.”The apparent obsession with riding her bike everywhere – regardless of circumstance – is well befitting of Genter, who in her current role within the New Zealand Green Party acts as spokesperson for Transport. Her Facebook page, the main source of where-I-rode-my-bike-today content, includes an “About” section with only one slither of personal information: “I love my bicycle.” We believe her, mainly because this isn’t the first time Genter has ridden herself to hospital to give birth. In August, 2018, the Green MP announced that she’d given birth to her first child after riding herself to Auckland City Hospital – while 42 weeks pregnant.“Beautiful Sunday morning for a bike ride, to the hospital, for an induction to finally have this baby,” Genter wrote on Instagram, along with the the hashtag #bicyclesarethebest.She further claimed that she and her partner opted for the bicycle “because there wasn't enough room in the car.”Follow Gavin Butler on Twitter.
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