NZ PM names new-born daughter Neve Te Aroha

WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Sunday she had named her new-born daughter Neve Te Aroha as she prepared to leave hospital amidst an outpouring of public excitement.

Ardern appeared before dozens of reporters and a flurry of camera flashes at Auckland City Hospital in her first appearance since giving birth, thanking the public for their support as her three-day-old daughter slept in her arms.

“We really just wanted to say thank you and that we´re all doing really well.Sleep deprived, but really well,” Ardern said.Ardern, 37, became New Zealand´s youngest prime minister when she took office through a coalition deal last year after an inconclusive election.

She has now become the first woman in the country´s history to give birth while in office. Ardern delivered her 3.31 kg (7.3 lb) daughter in the country´s largest public hospital on Thursday afternoon with her partner, television presenter Clarke Gayford, at her side. The couple had settled on the baby´s first name, Neve, after she was born, Ardern said, explaining that it means “bright and radiant” and “snow,” which reflected that she was born in the middle of winter during the nation´s indigenous Maori new year and the shortest day of the year.