NBC's Hallie Jackson praised for moderating debate while 8 months pregnant: 'What a committed working woman looks like'

Hallie Jackson took the stage of Wednesday night’s Democratic debate in Nevada where she moderated a discussion among presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg and Amy Klobuchar. And although many were happy to see NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent play such a vital role in the event alongside another woman, Vanessa Hauc, it was the fact that Jackson is 8-and-a-half months pregnant that made it most powerful.

”Yep, I’ll be walking my 8-and-a-half-month pregnant self on stage tonight for the Democratic debate,” Jackson tweeted just hours before it all started. She also posted an article by InStyle where she and Hauc talked about their preparation for the debate. Naturally, the expectant mother’s experience was quite unique.

“I'm juggling the already-intensive demands of network coverage of the White House alongside my daily MSNBC show. I was extremely fatigued in my first trimester, which I chalked up to usual overwork, until my partner Frank reminded me I'm growing a baby,” she told the magazine. “I've also been very conscious of taking care of myself as much as possible by eating healthy, working out, and resting when I need to.”

As for the debate, she noted that she wasn’t necessarily planning to travel this late in her pregnancy. Since getting the all-clear from doctors, however, she felt confident to take on the job. And for that, she received lots of praise.

The journalist had also mentioned on her social media that she was dealing with a bout of laryngitis.

Sherry A. Ross, MD, Women’s Health Expert and Author of she-ology and she-ology the she-quel, emphasizes what an incredible feat this is for a woman so far into her pregnancy.

“Hallie Jackson could be the poster child for what a committed working woman looks like by not letting pregnancy come between her profession and pending motherhood,” Ross tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “The last few weeks of pregnancy can be incredibly crippling emotionally and physically, between the hormonal chaos, extra weight gain, legs swelling, lower back pain, sleep challenges and other common symptoms of the third trimester for women. Hallie Jackson doesn’t seem to let the side effects of the third trimester of pregnancy stand in her way of the Democratic debate nor traveling to get there.”

Aside from the sheer amazement that people expressed in her ability to travel and moderate a debate on television while so far along in her pregnancy, others noted the incredible progress that the moment depicted. “This is so wonderful!” one fan tweeted. “My mother was a local tv reporter back in the 1960s and as soon as she got pregnant with my sister she was fired ... Things are finally changing.”

Read More from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Ashley Graham is working to teach women how to embrace pregnancy — stretch marks and all

• Drew Barrymore gets candid about body image: 'I have stood in my closet and just cried'

• Jenna Dewan opens up about her 2nd pregnancy: ‘I feel this deeper earth mama sense about me’

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