Overview

• Green MP Hanna Steinmüller delivered a speech on 23 September with her few‑months‑old baby asleep in a carrier, reportedly a first for the Bundestag lectern.
• She said she had not planned to bring the child and spoke on a weekday she usually handles care because major plenary business was not expected.
• Opinion pieces praise the visibility yet warn the image can mislead about real work–family compatibility and note that many infants would not tolerate such settings.
• Commentators contrast the chamber’s constant background noise with quiet venues like theaters and argue that structural supports, not case‑by‑case exceptions, are needed.
• Bundestag President Julia Klöckner praised Steinmüller and convened MPs with young children to solicit proposals, as Family Minister Karin Prien pressed for better conditions for parents in politics.