A politician breastfed her baby while speaking at the national parliament in Iceland–and it was absolutely awesome. Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir, from the centre-right Independence Party, nursed her 6-week-old daughter at the podium of the Alþingi parliament on Wednesday, all while explaining her vote on new immigration legislation to colleagues. Talk about balancing work and life.
For many countries, this is a first for any political leader–it’s definitely the first for Iceland. Konráðsdóttir, who is chair of the parliamentary Judicial Affairs and Education Committee, explained how breastfeeding her daughter at the podium just made the most sense, stating:
“She was hungry and I had not expected to go to the pulpit. Then another MP was giving statements on a bill that I put forward on the behalf of the Judicial Affairs Committee, to which I had to respond. So I either had to tear the baby girl of me and leave her crying with the MP sitting next to me or just take her with me and I thought it would cause less disturbance to take her with me.
She has been with me at the Parliament almost since she was born so my fellow MPs are used to her. She has attended numerous committee meetings with me over the final days of this parliament. Usually she is very calm and when we cast our votes she is sound asleep. So there have never been any incidents before.”
I’m glad to see a political figure normalize breastfeeding as something that just happens–as opposed to veiling it because it’s shameful. Konráðsdóttir said nursing is “the most natural thing in the world.” On parenting, she said it’s like anything else, in that “you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Rock on. You can watch a short video here:
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