Alioto-Pier first San Francisco official to give birth while in office

April 12, 2006

Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier and her husband Tom Pier proudly announce the arrival of their third child. A baby girl was born last night, Tuesday, April 11, 2006, at 11:24pm at California Pacific Medical Center's California Campus.

She weighed in at a healthy seven pounds, 11 ounces. She is 20 inches long.

The newest Alioto-Pier is yet to be named because the family suspected she would be a boy. Baby Alioto-Pier will be joining big brother Nicholas, 4 & ½ years old, and big sister Giovanna, 3 years old.

Mama and baby are doing great and are looking forward to a lot of sleepless nights.

Supervisor Alioto-Pier is San Francisco's first elected official to give birth while in office. She will not take maternity leave and plans to continue to represent the interests and needs of San Francisco and of District 2.

Under current state and local laws there are no provisions for maternity leave for woman who give birth while in office, nor are there provisions for a woman with pregnancy-related complications to vote while away from City Hall.

Alioto-Pier has introduced a Charter Amendment that would level the playing field and allow women to be pregnant and still fulfill the obligations of elected office. "Women should never be in a position where they must choose between the health and safety of their unborn child or performance of the duties of their elected position,' Alioto-Pier said.

"Women will never break through the glass ceiling and achieve real equality if they cannot hold office and have a child at the same time."

"Our beautiful city benefits from having young parents serve in public life," Alioto-Pier said.

"A parent's daily experiences raising a child in the city bring a new and different perspective to the importance of good quality public schools, clean and safe parks and libraries, and reasonable homeownership opportunities. We must do what we can to bring families into San Francisco, and that includes having a city that accommodates families at every level of government service."

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