--- title: Tammy Duckworth Pregnant and Will Be First Senator to Give Birth description: Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth announced her pregnancy on Tuesday, making her the first member of Senate to give birth while in office. canonical: https://time.com/5115515/tammy-duckworth-pregnant-senate/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-23T21:51:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:43.192Z article:section: Politics og:title: Tammy Duckworth Announces She's Pregnant. It Will Make Her the First Senator to Give Birth in Office og:description: 10 women in U.S. history have given birth in Congress og:url: https://time.com/5115515/tammy-duckworth-pregnant-senate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted4529d6d219fd29/6988a0f7a988ca7ea56b8f3a/tammy-duckworth1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4247 og:image:height: 2389 og:image:alt: 2016 Democratic National Convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tammy Duckworth Announces She's Pregnant. It Will Make Her the First Senator to Give Birth in Office twitter:description: 10 women in U.S. history have given birth in Congress twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted4529d6d219fd29/6988a0f7a988ca7ea56b8f3a/tammy-duckworth1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tammy Duckworth Announces She's Pregnant. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jan 23, 2018 9:51 PM UTC  Tammy Duckworth speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, on July 28, 2016. Tammy Duckworth speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, on July 28, 2016. Bill Clark—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jan 23, 2018 9:51 PM UTC [Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth](http://time.com/4580350/trauma-care-system/) announced her pregnancy on Tuesday, which will make her the first member of Senate to give birth while in office. The 49-year-old will deliver her second daughter this spring, her office said. Her first daughter, Abigail, is 3 years old. “Bryan and I are thrilled that our family is getting a little bit bigger, and Abigail is ecstatic to welcome her baby sister home this spring,” Duckworth said in a statement. She thanked the hospitals at Northwestern and George Washington University for helping her and her husband in their “decades-long journey to complete our family.” [Duckworth was elected to the Senate](http://motto.time.com/4564151/election-2016-female-victories-senate/) in November of 2016\. Only 10 women in U.S. history have given birth while serving in Congress, Duckworth’s office noted, highlighting the way in which it has impacted her policy agenda. “I’m hardly alone or unique as a working parent, and Abigail has only made me more committed to doing my job and standing up for hardworking families everywhere,” Duckworth said Tuesday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5115515/tammy-duckworth-pregnant-senate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5115515/tammy-duckworth-pregnant-senate/"},"headline":"Tammy Duckworth Announces She's Pregnant. 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