Claire Sweeney has given birth to a baby boy.
The 43-year-old actress had her baby at Liverpool Women's Hospital by Caesarean section.
The news was initially reported by the Liverpool Echo, after Claire's radio DJ friend Peter Price congratulated the new mum on Twitter.
Radio City presenter Pete tweeted that Claire had named the boy Walton after her friend Holly Willoughby had named her newborn son Chester.
But he then made it clear he was only joking, with this follow-up:
Claire then confirmed her happy news with a tweet to her followers which read:
Before she gave birth, Claire said she'd chosen to have an elective Caesarean 'not because I'm 'too posh to push' but: "It's on medical advice for a number of reasons including my age and the fact that he was a breech baby."
Earlier this week Claire tweeted:
Less than 24 hrs till I meet my little man!
- Claire Sweeney (@clairesweeneyme) September 28, 2014
Claire's happy news comes after she suffered two miscarriages, one at 12 weeks in 2012 and another shortly after conceiving in May last year.
Claire, best known for playing Lindsey Corkhill in Brookside and winning the first series of Celebrity Big Brother, said: "As every woman knows, miscarriages are terribly upsetting. Mine were reasonably early and I can only imagine how hard it is for women who have them late on.
"While I was very fatalistic about my first one and just told myself the pregnancy wasn't meant to be, the second one was so much harder. You can't help thinking, 'Am I ever going to have a baby?'.
Claire found out she was expecting a baby early this year, a month after splitting up with her fiancé Daniel Riley. She recently told OK Magazine that she and Daniel have become closer again in recent months, hinting that a possible reunion could be on the cards.
She said: "We've been spending lots of time together and the priority really is to get the baby born and healthy and we'll see what happens after that.....He's been so supportive. He's been brilliant, he really has. So, yes, we've grown a lot closer. He's been helping me out with things, he's been wonderful."
"Finding out I was pregnant was a gorgeous shock - it truly shows that God works in mysterious ways and I think it was just meant to be.
"Actually, I always thought I'd have a little girl, so that was another surprise but a lovely one. I've thought about calling him Gabriel, because he's my little angel sent from heaven."
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