WASHINGTON — Breaking down barriers is nothing new for Senator Tammy Duckworth, and that’s the way she likes it.

The decorated Iraq War veteran who lost both legs when her helicopter was shot down is an Asian-American woman in the mostly white, mostly male, and very fusty Senate. And now, with a baby due in April, she will be the first US senator to give birth while in office.

And so, along with her legislative and political goals, the Illinois Democrat is adding a new one: educating the tradition-bound Senate on creating a workplace that makes room for new moms.

‘‘She’s been through things that you and I will probably never understand. So I’m sure for her [having a baby] is in no way daunting,’’ said Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Washington Republican, who had two children while serving in Congress. ‘‘She’s also someone who’s had a whole career in a male-dominated world.’’

Duckworth, who turns 50 in March, says she appreciates the historic nature of her baby’s birth, as well as the fact that she represents working mothers and women having babies later in life. She fully expects to have to find a place to nurse in a parlor off the Senate floor.

Duckworth is the first female amputee elected to Congress, the first Asian-American to represent Illinois in Washington, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.

Associated Press