New Zealand's Parliament is fast becoming more family friendly, with the help of the Speaker and some multi-tasking mums.

On Wednesday, new Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime breastfed her baby in the debating chamber.

She's not the first to feed a baby on the floor but thanks to recently amended Parliamentary rules, she and other MPs are allowed to have their babies in the House without fear of being ejected by a technicality.

FACEBOOK Willow-Jean Prime brings her baby to work.

Later in the day, newly elected Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard held Prime's three-month-old baby Heeni on his lap while members debated a bill on the extension of paid parental leave.

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It was fitting for the members to be debating the extension of paid parental leave (to 26 weeks by 2020, starting with a boost to 22 weeks in July), while the baby girl was in the House.

FAIRFAX Former Australian senator Larissa Waters was been applauded for normalising breastfeeding.

And it comes a day after Mallard said some aspects of Parliament needed to be modernised, and in some cases, made more family friendly.

'IT TAKES A VILLAGE'

Prime said having a baby and being an MP was "really, really challenging" but she had her family supporting her.

Australian senator Larissa Waters moves a motion within the Federal Parliament while breastfeeding.

"It takes a village," Prime said.

The new MP's mother was at Parliament with her full-time, to help look after Heeni, and when possible Prime would express milk in advance so her mum could bottle feed the baby.

But that wasn't possible on Wednesday, with MPs starting work at 8am and finishing at 10pm.

Having the flexibility to take babies in the House also made things easier for supporters - like Prime's mum - who needed to go bathroom or get lunch.

The Speaker, Parliamentary Services, and the Labour Party had all been supportive, Prime said, adding that many MPs had young children and they understood the struggles.

And it was important MPs set a good, progressive, example for the rest of the country when it came to flexible working arrangements.

STUFF Former national MP Katherine Rich says her babies were welcomed into Parliament.

Prime said she had received a lot of positive feedback from Kiwi mums, but there had also been some negative comments.

She hadn't had time to look at these yet, and she probably wouldn't.

BABIES WELCOMED IN PARLIAMENT

Former National MP Katherine Rich breastfed her baby Georgia in the House in 2002.

Both her children Georgia and Jonathan were welcome at Parliament, she said, adding that the then-Speaker Jonathan Hunt noted Jonathan's arrival and said he approved of his name.

"Babies make people smile so I think they liked to see new life pushed in the pram around the corridors... Often other MPs would come in for a baby cuddle.

John Carter, National's whip at the time, was a huge support and during one caucus function Bill English carried baby Jonathan around the whole time", Rich said.

While the babies were breastfeeding they went everywhere with Rich. Sometimes it was OK, and sometimes it was a disaster, she said.

When Jonathan was born in 2001, former prime minister Jenny Shipley asked former National MP Ruth Richardson to visit Rich at Parliament to share some advice.

"She gave me great advice in her no nonsense way. She said babies are not handbags to be carted everywhere as they need their routines and sleep. Their needs come first. She was right."

Rich said things improved over time and it was good to see the Speakers accommodating new mothers and babies.

"Trevor [Mallard] has always been a proud dad so he'll have great empathy for new future mother and father MPs."

While Parliament had become more family friendly, it was "very, very tough" being an MP with a baby in tow, Rich said.

"I found the relentless tiredness the hardest. When the babies were weaned, it was hard leaving them every week...

"It will never be plain sailing. Political life is all-consuming. Even with the best support, dealing with the demands of a baby will always be challenging. Serving as an MP is not a 9 to 5 role. It's every waking moment."

STRANGER IN THE HOUSE

Rich said in 2002 there was the risk she and her baby could have been ejected from the House if her baby was seen as a "stranger", but that didn't happen.

The times they are a changing. The Speaker with @WillowPrime little Heeni during PPL Bill this evening. pic.twitter.com/PX2x3NZaJi — Grant Robertson (@grantrobertson1) November 8, 2017

MPs are technically prohibited from bringing any "strangers" into the house, except under specific circumstances. A "stranger" in this context is anyone who isn't an MP or a parliamentary official.

These strangers are generally high-level advisors or distinguished guests and are only allowed on the raised floor where MPs sit, not the actual floor of the House. (MPs are supposed to yell "I spy strangers!" if they spot one on the floor.)

In the past it was be up to the Speaker to decide whether a baby was a stranger - and thus allowed in a restricted sense into the House.

Since the standing orders were updated ahead of the election, there was no longer the fear of babies being considered "strangers".

Prime and fellow Labour MP Kiri Allen have made the most of the amendment, and have brought along Heeni and Hiwa-i-te-Rangi to work.

New Zealand isn't the only country that has these rules.

In 2012, Canadian MP Sania Hassainia caused a stir after carrying her young baby onto the floor of the House of Commons for an important vote on the long-gun registry.

Hassainia later said she found out about the vote at the last minute and had to rush to Parliament with her baby. After first being ejected she was later welcomed back, and set a precedent.

It was later discovered the page was not trying to eject her because of the baby, but because of the commotion his presence was causing.

Earlier this year, former Australian senator Larissa Waters made history when she breastfed her infant inside Australian Parliament.

And last year, an independent review in the UK said MPs should be allowed to breastfeed in the chamber of the House of Commons during debates to set an example to the rest of society.

There had been some opposition to the review, and in 2001 the then-Speaker in the UK, Baroness Boothroyd, said: "You wouldn't start feeding your child if you worked on a supermarket checkout or if you were a solicitor having a meeting with a client."

The professor of gender and politics at Bristol University, who carried out the review, acknowledged the debate around breastfeeding in Parliament is likely to prove "highly charged".

However, the report said allowing breastfeeding would "enable all members to participate fully in House business".

It also quotes the late Jo Cox, the British Labour Party MP and mother of two who was murdered last year, who once said breast-feeding was "what women do - get over it. It is good for children, so we should advocate it".

Uncle Trevor on babysitting duty for Willow-Jean Prime. #Decision17 pic.twitter.com/YUSLNYKW8l — Lloyd Burr (@LloydBurr) September 8, 2017

PAVING THE WAY

A significant milestone in New Zealand Parliament's history regarding breastfeeding was in 1983 when former National MP Ruth Richardson pushed to be able to breastfeed her baby at work.

Richardson gave birth during recess, and when the House was called back early, she brought her baby with her.

In 1983, due in large part to her efforts, a special room near the chamber was made available for women to breastfeed. And in the 1990s Parliament established a childcare centre.

In the 1970, Labour MP Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan returned to work two weeks after giving birth, and looked after her baby in her office.

When asked about MPs bringing babies to work and breastfeeding in the chamber, she said "this is now the new normal".

The focus should no longer be on the fact new parents were in the House but on the quality of ideas they brough to the public domain.