NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly talks with Boston mayor Michelle Wu, who just welcomed her third child. She’s the first Boston mayor to give birth while in office.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is used to firsts. She is the first woman to be elected mayor of Boston, first person of color to be elected to the post and, as of a couple of weeks ago, the first Boston mayor to give birth while in office – her third child. On Tuesday, Mayor Wu was back at City Hall, and as she got to work, her newborn, Mira, was in tow.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Oh, wow.
MICHELLE WU: She’s been a great baby – eats a lot, sleeps a lot.
KELLY: Eats a lot, sleeps a lot. Mayor Wu, welcome and congratulations.
WU: Thank you so much. It’s great to be with you.
KELLY: How did that feel to be back at City Hall with your newest newborn babe in arms?
WU: (Laughter) It was great to be back in the swing of things. I had been participating with my team mostly remotely up until that point, since we welcomed our lovely new bundle, and to just be back in person felt really good.
KELLY: Good.
WU: And Mira held her own. She participated in Cabinet meetings…
KELLY: (Laughter).
WU: …And just had one diaper issue that we needed to address, but it got taken care of pretty quickly.
KELLY: Is this just business as usual for you? I mean, you’ve done this before. I read back when you were on the City Council before you were mayor, so, like, a decade ago, you would come to work every day carrying your then-infant son.
WU: That’s right. Mira has two big brothers, and both were born after I was already serving on the Boston City Council. And so it brought back a lot of memories of being on the council floor or having a baby on my hip as we were going through the business of the city.
We are very lucky in that City Hall is a site with onsite childcare, but there is a little bit of a lag time in terms of when they will start accepting new babies, and so for this transition period, it’s a little bit of touch and go, but we do our best. And now, with technology, with Zoom, there are even more ways to be engaged.
KELLY: We were going back through the archives, and I saw that back when you first were doing this with a baby on your hip – this was, like, back in 2015 – you gave an interview to CBS and described some of the pushback that you got for bringing your son to council meetings, council hearings at the time. Any pushback at all this time?
WU: Well, I think we’re still in a world where often there’s the expectation that you have to have very strict boundaries in order to be professional – right? – and that someone’s home or personal life should be kept very separate from what it means to be a working individual.
KELLY: Yeah.
WU: And we know from the vast majority of jobs and industries that that artificial separation is not only impossible, but it also really holds us back as a society. We have come a long way since my first child was born. Back then, I had been leading the charge, and we did not have paid parental leave at all in place in City Hall. And so I authored the ordinance, passed that policy, and in the years since then, we’ve now been able to expand it to just about every city union as well, through collective bargaining. And so a lot of those policies have now newly been implemented, and we’re seeing the benefits.
KELLY: May I ask the obvious question? You’re talking about helping to lead the fight for paid parental leave. It doesn’t really sound like you’re taking it (laughter). Why not?
WU: Well, I have a strong, strong proponent that every single person should have the full range of options to support what their family needs, what their personal health needs and what their own judgment is. The job of being an elected official is a little bit unique and different. You’re essentially on call, even on vacation, even in the middle of the night, for important decisions that have to be made. And so I’m doing this in a way that works for my family, works for the city and that I’ve, frankly, had a joy and just a huge privilege to be able to do because we have options in place.
KELLY: So I’m well aware, Mayor Wu, that I might not have asked for this interview, that it would be less newsworthy, if a male mayor of Boston had just welcomed a third child to the family. I’m also aware, as a working mom myself, that most dads aren’t actually in there doing the childbirth and breastfeeding. There’s some things you just can’t delegate. I guess it prompts the question. I mean, Mira obviously is still tiny. She’s – what? – 14, 15 days old as we’re speaking.
WU: That’s right.
KELLY: But are you thinking already about what you might want her to know about what is possible for a working mother?
WU: We’re in such an interesting and also unpredictable and in many ways stressful time. As a woman, as someone who has a front-row seat in the workings of politics and government right now, we’re seeing the push and pull of many changes or even rolling back of policies that had been long fought for to protect bodily autonomy or individual rights and protections.
As I was running for mayor, towards the end of that election, you know, there were a number of very strong women involved, and my boys had grown up seeing the sea change of women in elected office that Boston had experienced over the last decade. And one of my sons asked me if boys were ever allowed to be mayor of Boston as well.
KELLY: (Laughter).
WU: And so I think we’re seeing the impact that role models can have, and we want to make sure that that also turns into a tangible difference and the impact in improving people’s lives.
KELLY: So as you and I speak, you are running a reelection campaign for another term. And as I don’t need to tell you, we’re not living through a quiet moment for big city mayors in America. I was reading that you are 1 of 4 mayors who has been called to testify next month – February 11 – on Capitol Hill for a hearing on so-called sanctuary cities. Do you plan to go?
WU: We’re still reviewing the communication that was received and seeking some guidance from those who know the ins and outs of congressional policies and all of that best. I know that Boston has a lot to share when it comes to how our policies have been successful at creating the results that so many communities are calling for. We are very proud to be the safest major city in the country. We are at record low levels of gun violence, of homicide, of all the public safety statistics that are tracked on an annual basis. And that is because of the trust that exists within our community and the ability for everyone to be involved and to have investments that improve people’s lives. So we’re still evaluating what the next steps are on that front, and should it come to that, I think I would also need to understand the breastfeeding policies (laughter) for those who are testifying as well.
KELLY: What kind of questions are you getting, either from local law enforcement there in Boston or from people in your city without legal status – questions about the deportation threats coming from federal government officials.
WU: I think we are very clear in Boston that the results we’ve achieved have been because we create a space where everyone is part of our community. That means that regardless of your immigration status or anything else about your background, everyone needs to feel comfortable and safe reaching out to law enforcement, reporting crimes, calling 911 when you need help, taking your kids to school, being involved in activities at the community center, and we do not ask about immigration status in any of those settings. At the same time, we are very clear that there’s accountability across the board as well for those who have committed a crime or who are perpetrating violence or harm in the community. And so that’s the foundation of how we are building our city here.
KELLY: Boston mayor and mom Michelle Wu, thank you very much for your time.
WU: Thank you so much.
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