Brad Pitt cut the umbilical cord of his new daughter when she was born. The actor was in the delivery room when his partner Angelina Jolie delivered the girl, who they have named Shiloh Nouvel, via Caesarean section in a private hospital in Namibia on Saturday.

Pitt, like many new dads, was offered the chance to cut the cord - the lifeline which joins mother and baby - by medical staff and reportedly jumped at the chance.

The couple's obstetrician, Jason Rothbart, who travelled to the Southern African country from the US to be at the birth, revealed Brad carried out the impromptu procedure and has also revealed the baby's weight.

He said: "The baby was a healthy 7lb. Brad was with Angelina the entire time and cut the umbilical cord. The surgery and birth went flawlessly."

Shiloh Nouvel is the couple's first biological child - the Tomb Raider actress has two adopted two children, Maddox, four, and 16-month-old Zahara, who Brad became a legal guardian of earlier this year.