New mother Billie faces a week in hospital recovering from emergency Caesarean

Billie Piper will remain in hospital for a week after enduring a traumatic 26-hour labour followed by an emergency Caesarean to give birth to her first child, a boy.

Miss Piper, 26, delivered Winston James Fox around 1am on Tuesday at the private Portland Hospital in London.

Her husband Laurence Fox, 29, confirmed that mother and the 6lb 11oz baby were well and happy.



Fox said: 'He is beautiful. He is sweet. It was an emergency Caesarean. I'm tired but not as tired as her, no doubt. It was long and hard. She was in labour for more than 24 hours.'

Billie Piper, seen near her West Sussex home on the weekend, has given birth to her first child, a baby boy, in a London hospital



The Portland Hospital in London is well known for its celebrity clientele



He said Billie would remain in hospital with the child while she recovered from the operation.



'She had a Caesarean. It was quite a major thing wasn't it,' he said, adding that doctors told the couple she might not be ready to go home for "five days to a week".

And he said Billie was thrilled with her new status: 'She's really happy she's a mum.'

The proud father - who briefly left his wife's side to buy a bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne - wore a rosette saying 'Fabby Daddy' on the left side of his chest.

He also wet the baby's head with a pint of lager in the Green Man pub across from the Portland yesterday with a group of friends.

Fox said he had not changed his jeans and jumper for three days, but despite his exhaustion he ahppily showed off mobile phone pictures of his son.

Mr Fox told friends: 'You have no idea what's going on but it's amazing.'

VIP visitors: Billie Piper's ex-husband Chris Evans and current husband Laurence Fox arrive at The Portland Hospital



He said he had initially panicked because he couldn't get the car to start after his wife went into labour. Speaking outside the hospital he said: 'I feel fantastic.'

When asked about the newborn's name, Fox remained close-lipped, stating: 'That's a private moment.'

However, Evans wasn't quite so discreet, revealing on his blog that Piper and Fox had named their baby Winston James Fox.

He commented: 'We've got lots of nice presents, lots of nice flowers, and my mum and dad are coming down later. Billie's parents came down last night.'

Miss Piper, a former star of Doctor Who, is expected to stay in hospital overnight and her husband pledged to 'be with her for the length of it'.

Ecstatic: Proud new dad Laurence Fox shows a reporter a photo of baby Winston on his mobile phone

One of the first visitors was Miss Piper's ex-husband, the Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who remains a close friend. Evans popped in for five minutes and delivered a gift.

He described Miss Piper as ' fantastic' and said: 'She's very happy and she looks wonderful. She's really pleased. It's tears of joy up there.'

He added: 'I've not been informed if I am a godparent but here's hoping.

Fabby Daddy: Fox was wearing a purple badge declaring his new role in life

'I got him a tractor. A remote-control tractor. Every little boy needs a tractor.'

After leaving the hospital Evans wrote about the 'absolute pure joy' of his first meeting with Miss Piper's 'brand new shiny baby' on his internet diary, which he titled 'Winston James Fox, welcome to Planet Earth'.

He wrote: 'At the time of writing this, the little fella is not even 15 hours old. He is cute as you like and didn't cry once for the few minutes I was there which was just a few moments ago.

'How cool is life?' Evans, 42, and his wife Natasha Shishmanian announced their own pregnancy in July.

Fox and Miss Piper married in East Sussex on New Year's Eve 2007.

The actress has admitted being nervous about the birth. She said: 'Some women are all about this glowing, blooming thing, aren't they?

'I haven't really tapped into that. I've basically replaced all my vices for a new one - control. I've had about ten scans and I bought one of those baby heart monitor things.'

The name Winston derives from an expression meaning 'joyful stone'.

Fox went to the same school ( Harrow) as one of the most famous owners of the name, Winston Churchill.

Chris Evans with wife Natasha Shishmanian. He arrived in his Ferrari with a gift for the baby and stayed for a brief visit with Billie and Laurence

Chris, who is reported to be the intended godfather of her child, has joked about the baby race between Miss Piper and his new wife.

He announced golf professional Miss Shishmanian's own pregnancy on his blog in July this year.

Mr Evans said: 'You know they had a baby race, to see who could get in the family way first.

Family celebrations: Laurence Fox leaves the hospital with his actor father James Fox (L), mother Mary and brother Jack (R)

'I've never talked about this before but it's true.



'And Billie thrashed us. It wasn't so much that Billie thrashed us or Tash, it was the fact that Laurence her husband thrashed me.'

Mr Fox and Miss Piper married in East Sussex on New Years Eve 2007.

The former teen pop star had a previous six-year marriage with Radio DJ Chris Evans whom she married in a casual Las Vegas ceremony in 2001.



They divorced in May 2007 - three years after they split.

New parents: Billie - seen here on the day she went into labour at the weekend with husband Laurence - had an emergency C-section