The Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth has announced that she will be the first US senator to give birth while in office.



The 49-year-old Democrat, a veteran who lost her legs in the Iraq war, announced her pregnancy in a news release on Tuesday.

Duckworth gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in 2014. The senator will be one of only 10 lawmakers who have given birth while in Congress.

Duckworth said: “As tough as juggling the demands of motherhood and being a senator can be, I’m hardly alone or unique as a working parent.”

She added that her first daughter, Abigail, “has only made me more committed to doing my job and standing up for hardworking families everywhere”.

Earlier this month, New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced she was pregnant with her first child.

In 1990, Pakistan’s then prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, gave birth to a daughter, in what was said to be a first for an elected world leader.