Charlotte City Council member Dimple Ajmera, husband welcome baby daughter
City Council member Dimple Ajmera gave birth to a healthy baby girl on Saturday morning, her campaign manager said.
“Dr. Vaibhav Bajaj and Charlotte Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Charlotte Bajaj Ajmera,” Dan McCorkle said in a statement. “Both mother, father and daughter are doing well and are surrounded by their loving extended family.”
“Many thanks to the staff of Atrium Health, University City for the excellent care,” the family statement said.. “Ajmera is only the second Councilwoman to have a child while in office, with the previous being 33 years ago.”
Ajmera, an at-large representative, announced her pregnancy in late January.
”With joyful anticipation, my husband, Vaibhav and I are very grateful to announce that our family will soon grow from two three!” Ajmera tweeted. “We are expecting our first child in early Summer as we continue life’s journey.
Ajmera also posted a picture of the couple holding their hands in a heart shape over her baby bump. In a second image, they held a poster of a heart, inscribed with a message: “Our precious gift arrives June 2021.”
On Father’s Day, Ajmera joked — with a winking-face emoji on Twitter— that her “love and father-to-be...is looking forward to his diaper changing duties or (maybe) not.”
Ajmera candidly shared her COVID-19 vaccination story while pregnant. It was a difficult decision, considering pregnant women were not included in initial vaccine studies, Ajmera told WBTV, the Observer’s news partner.
“I did my research and I arrived at a decision: The best way to protect me and my baby was to take this vaccine,” Ajmera said, adding she consulted with her doctors to weigh risks and benefits. “This vaccine has given me and my family so much comfort, hope and freedom from anxiety and fear.”
The last female council member to give birth was Cyndee Patterson in 1988, according to McCorkle. She gave birth to Henry Conrad Patterson, whose estimated weight was “8 pounds or more,” at Presbyterian Hospital, the Observer reported at the time.
Ajmera, in a recent interview with the Observer, had joked she hoped she wouldn’t go into labor before the council’s vote to adopt the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. (Ajmera voted in favor of the divisive land-use document on June 21, saying it “challenges the status quo” to ensure equitable growth and development in Charlotte over the next two decades.)
Throughout her pregnancy, Ajmera was allowed to participate remotely in council and committee meetings, due to flexible rules made possible amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unique circumstances, Ajmera said, make a strong case for boosting access and equity for all future city leaders — and rethinking where and how elected officials may need to govern, including from their own homes.