Angelina, baby were at risk
2006-05-31 07:43
Los Angeles - The Namibian-born daughter of Hollywood couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt was delivered by Caesarean section in a weekend surgery and birth that "went flawlessly," despite initial complications, Jolie's doctor said on Tuesday.
Details of the birth, which occurred on Saturday at the
Cottage Medi-Clinic Hospital in Swakopmund, were disclosed in a statement the couple furnished exclusively to People magazine.
Pitt's publicist, Cindy Guagenti, later confirmed the
magazine's report.
Breech position
The infant, named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, weighed 3.18kg at birth and was described as healthy, though a surgical delivery was necessary because the baby was in a potentially risky feet-first breech position in the womb.
"Angelina underwent a scheduled Caesarean due to breech
presentation," said Dr. Jason Rothbart, the couple's Los
Angeles-based obstetrician, who oversaw the delivery.
Brad cut umbilical cord
"Brad was with Angelina in the operating room the entire
time and cut the umbilical cord of his daughter. The surgery
and birth went flawlessly," he said.
Rothbart added that the doctors, nurses and other staff who
assisted him were "amazing," and he called the delivery "a team
effort".
"We would like to deeply thank the staff of the Cottage
Medi-Clinic Hospital for all their kindness and commitment in
assuring the successful birth of our daughter," Jolie, 30, and
Pitt, 42, said in a joint statement.
No pictures yet
The infant Shiloh joins their two adopted children, Cambodian-born son Maddox, 4, and daughter, Zahara, an Ethiopian native who is about 15 months old, in a blended celebrity clan recently labelled "the World's Most Beautiful Family" by People magazine.
But so far, no pictures of the family's latest addition
have emerged. Photographers from all over the world have
flocked to the southern African nation in hopes of capturing
the first images of the newborn which are expected to be worth
millions of dollars.
Shine to Namibia
Jolie, who won an Oscar for her role in the 1999 movie
Girl, Interrupted, and serves as a goodwill ambassador for
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, took a shine to Namibia
during production on the 2003 film Beyond Borders.
Her relationship with Brad Pitt quickly became one of Hollywood's
most talked-about open secrets, Pitt and Jolie only confirmed
their romance about five months ago, when they announced she
was pregnant with his child.